I live in 6b/7a and have grown Black & Blue for many years in the ground. It doesn't spread quite as quickly as it does in more southern zones but it does expand. If I were wanting a big patch I would order a few to arrive in early March, repot them in larger pots, feed them, and root cuttings from the new shoots. You could quadruple your stock by mid May and so increase your planting. Before you get too hooked on guaranitica Black & Blue you might want to consider your options. Another favorite which blooms better for me is Brazil and last year in its first year here Blue Ensign also did well. A popular one at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania is Kobalt. The key to survival is dry feet in winter and early spring.

I can send you Salvia black and blue if you want, several tubers or plants if you ned them. Do you have Salvia Sinaloaensis by any chance to trade? I would take that in any amount (I mean, I would need about 6 plants but would be happy with less).

S. guaranitica `Argentina Skies' is light blue with a long bloom season. It has tubers also. These can be protected to a great degree by working crushed rock, which will deter the tunneling moles, looking for beetle larvae and earthworms. Voles are weak, and therefore, opportunistic diggers. Plants with tubers generally have evolved in hard plains soils with limestone, or in rocky scree soils on alpine slopes. There is relatively little food for tunneling predators in these environments, unlike forest soils and their accompanying clearings. Xeric plants have often evolved by necessity to have large starch storage organs, and usually where predators are absent. A lot of bulbs like Colchicum (toxicity) and Allium (obnoxious taste) have other defense organisms. Alliums like onion and garlic are toxic to dogs and especially cats. Salvias are largely deer and rabbit resistant because of strong tastes and bitterness. Often, rabbits and deer will sample sage plants. They will eat them if there is nothing else.

I've grown it. It's an annual native to the southwestern US, and hummers adore it. There are several varieties available, 'Lady in Red' being one. Another that I really like is called 'Forest Fire', with those intense red tubular blooms held in dark, almost black calyxes on a black stem. The red/black contrast is striking and very attractive. This variety is a little shorter and denser growing than 'Lady in Red'. There are white and peachy-toned cultivars, too. The hummers like the red ones best, of course. The species is easy to grow from seed, and I've had it reseed itself on occasion. The plants are often available in 6-packs at garden centers this time of year.