You're right, Bob, Norman is Hannibal crossed back to Tiger. I was thinking it was an F2 of Hannibal, so that would explain the larger size. Well, let's see..... I could buy one or I could just cross the two myself next time they bloom. You guys probably thought I was joking when I said I do my own hybrids because I'm cheap. No joke, LOL Actually, I think we'll be seeing a lot of Hannibal and Tiger hybrids coming out, and a lot of them are going to start looking very similar. When something that good and that different comes along nobody can resist working with it. I picked this one up from my local neighborhood hybridizer, ostensibly HL x (Big Red x Purple Paint). Shows a lot of HL/Tiger characteristics and not much from the other side so far: Speaking of Tiger crosses, I also took this pic-- feast your eyes: No, I don't own this plant; no, it wasn't available but it didn't come from here so it must be out there somewhere; and no, I don't remember what the cross was but it's not a variegated HL.

Aaaahhhh! As Patris said in another thread, I'm feeling a calmness wash over me. Thanks, Bob, that's just what I needed to get through the day. Onward and upward...

Hi Skrip, We had an 'Indigo Spires' that I finally had to take out when its span reached 9 feet wide. :-) But you can keep it MUCH narrower by cutting out a lot of the side branches. That's what my parents' neighbors do.... they have a fairly sparse one in a narrow spot in front of their house, always blooming and never too big. I think they must cut it often. If you don't want to have to cut it a lot, I'd allow at least 5-6 feet. We have a large S. chiapensis in our front yard, at least 5 feet wide, maybe 4 feet tall. Now, if I had had a chance to cut it down in late winter, it may never get that big. If you cut it down every year it would probably get to 3x3. This one is very happy in dappled shade, especially where it gets watering from lawn sprinklers. It likes "cloud forest" conditions. Our neighbor has a grouping of 3 'Hot Lips' and I'd say each one reaches at least 4' wide. You know, here in our zone, we have to allow a much bigger span and height then elsewhere because our growing season is so much longer. Oh, and we also have pineapple sage (S. elegans). Do you mean the dwarf ('Honey Melon'), or the species which is bigger? We have both. The big one gets about 5 feet tall x 4 feet wide and grows in quite a bit of shade, mostly dappled, and blooms quite well there. I'm thinking of putting a cutting on the north side of the house and to see how it does there too. It can take more sun. The dwarf plant is a low-growing/spreading ground cover that reached about 5 feet wide before I took it out and put it in a pot. I've had fun experimenting with the Salvias in different parts of the yard because they root so easily from just a cutting stuck in the ground. A few years ago I stuck a cutting of Salvia regla on the north side of the house. It took off and has profusely bloomed for two years. It's about 7 feet tall now. Also stuck a cutting of S. greggii on the north side last year, in a spot a little shadier than where S. regla is, and wetter because it gets less sun. It bloomed last year, it survived a VERY wet winter in heavy wet clay in the shade, and now it has buds!!! At most it will get a few hours of morning sun in the summer. Jen

Thank you for your replies. Richard - of the two pictures of S. regla, Huntington BG apperas to have the form I'm seeking - upright and open. I'm looking for one that grows 6 or more feet tall, like the one in the picture I shared. Ours grows on the north side of our house in amended clay and gets sun only in summer. And, the S. melissodora is beautiful, but I'm seeking a Salvia that blooms in warm colors (orange, red, yellow) to contrast with other nearby plants with blooms in the blue range. KermitC - I believe I have S. flocculosa which I purchased at a plant sale several years go and it was labeled 'Rio Bamba'. It's currently growing in a spot that gets only afternoon sun. It is 3-4 feet tall with open sprawling growth -- do you think it should grow much taller than that in full sun? Research of S. fulgens tells me it may not grow as tall as I'd like - 6' or more feet tall.