None of those would be my first choices for perennial salvias for the PNW. 'Indigo Spires' is most often sold as an annual here - although reputedly cold hardy to zone 7, it simply won't tolerate our wet winters and is very difficult to get to winter over. Mexican sage, S.chamaedryoides, is a zone 9 plant and just not hardy. I've had moderately good luck with various greggii's in a very well draining situation - containers seem to work best for me. But there are many good, hardy perennial salvias for this area. All will want fast draining soil, with the exception of S. uliginosa or bog sage. Cultivars of S. nemerosa, verticilliata and x sylvestris all do well. Salvia guaranitica is a bit tender (again, the winter wet issue) but well worth growing anyway, especially 'Black and Blue' and 'Argentina Skies' - big, voluptuous plants in a single season and hundreds of flowers over a very long period - pretty much till frost. And I love many of the tender or annual salvias - tangerine, pineapple or honeydew sage (hummers adore them), the above mentioned 'Indigo Spires' and 'Victoria' and Salvia microphylla cultivars like 'Hot Lips', 'Lipstick' or 'Wild Watermelon'. Most local nurseries carry a good selection in season - look for them in late May/early June onward.

Wow Mikey, When you say well rooted , you mean well rooted(they were small shrubs!). I only hope I can send you enough to make you equally pleased with the exchange. Today is my birthday & it was a great one. I must say the chamedroides was about 4x the size of a certain well known mail order nursery at which I paid $11 for a plant that didn't overwinter. They are eternal optimists with their zones. I told Ginny Hunt that I really appreciated her more conservative numbers. I'd rather bring it in than lose my investment! Yes at $11 plus shipping, it could be considered an investment, lol. I really liked the way you used tape & closing the box to keep the plants from sliding around, were you an engineer before you retired? Thank you again & again ! You made my day! Rose

Here in England, I find that the following Salvias can seed heavily.....subrotunda, forskaohleii, interrupta, rhinosina, pratensis, and transsylvanica, and a couple of other weedy ones...can't think of the names as I don't grow them for this reason!

I agree, San Carlos Festival is the oldest microphylla in my garden, surviving in a bed where at least a dozen other microphylla and greggii cultivars failed to thrive. The only place it did not do well was when planted in totally barren dry conditions. It doesn't set lots of seed for me either, although it was a parent of one of the most vigorous and hardy seedlings ever to appear here. I never know what to expect from new seedlings and that includes flower color, leaf type, hardiness or vigor. Most of them are so similar to the general profile of the sister species as to be unexceptional - shades of raspberry, red, or pink. I keep asking myself how Robin comes up with so many beauties.