I like the Salvia Guaraniticas, 'Black & Blue', 'Amistad', 'Wendy's Wish' etc. I like the hummingbirds they bring in, but they are a bit iffy to come back without insulating with leaves/mulch and a tarp...perhaps more than most are willing to do.

Sad, that. It takes me less than 1/2 hour per year to insulate them.

Z6 Kansas here also. I grow May Night--have grown it for years, transplanted it to different places in the garden, etc. It does fine for me. I believe my neighbor who gardens also grows May Night and likes it.

Kate

Depends on what you are looking for. There is a reason that 'May Night' is so popular. It's tough, blooms a lot and for a long time. 'Caradonna' is slightly more reddish and has the dark stems, and has fewer stems. The meadow sages that you mention will all need at least annual spring maintenance in cutting off all of last year's withered foliage. They also look best with a trim after blooming or removing the bloomed-out stems individually (tedious but the best result). In my climate, the shrubby Salvia greggii cultivars have the best year-round appearance and the least maintenance (nothing, or perhaps a shearing in the spring). Salvia pachyphylla needs removal of the big faded bracts after bloom but is otherwise maintenance free. Salvia azurea and Salvia reptans will need a spring cleanup but are otherwise effortless. Salvia daghestanica is effortless and dramatic but needs a post-bloom trim. The meadow sages need irrigation here. The others need none or almost none here, but may rot if your climate is wet.

I like coccinias. They might not be perennial in KS but the do bloom all summer in our CA heat.

Salvia greggii (Autumn Sage) is my very favorite! Very hardy. If you don't limb it, it will root where the wood touches the ground and you get a free plant to put elsewhere in the garden. I do a hard prune in March. I have one by my front door that is about 14 years old!

You might want to consider some of the hardier Salvia microphyllas and their hybrids with S. greggii. I don't know if the Heatwave and Suncrest Dancer hybrids have been successfully trialed under your conditions. For S. microphylla selections, I do know that Wild Watermelon, San Carlos Festival, La Trinidad Pink, Hot Lips, Dieciocho de Marzo, Hoja Grande, Flower Child, Forever Red, Berzerkely, Red Velvet, and newer forms like Royal Bumble deserve a try. Others are either new, with not much known, or have genes from parents that indicate less tolerance from cold, like those with orange to yellow flowers. The search for hardy warm colored forms goes on.

Some of the greggii x microphylla (x jamennsis) hybrids are excellent, like Plum Wine , Raspberry Royale, Raspberry Delight, Maraschino, and Cherry Chief. Many of the newly introduced forms with one species name are hybrids with the other of this pair. Again, these need trialling in different climatic conditions other than in the southwest to sort them all out. And lots of new ones are on the way.

I was just thinking how I wished I new what variety of salvia I have, because it is so carefree. It is blue, perennial, spring-blooming and self-seeds reasonably. I found some seedlings mid-summer, which appeared to have resulted from germination of seeds produced this spring. I transplanted the nearly microscopic plants to a spot with more space, and by late summer they were blooming. Yesterday, while clearing out leaves and spent annuals from that new bed, I found another generation of tiny salvia seedlings. I'm so excited, because the entire point of my gardening is to provide habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. So, if I can expand the time these popular blossoms are available to the beneficial insects, I can improve their survival chances dramatically. I believe I started with two NOID plants that begin their bloom period about ten days apart. So, that variation, plus a second generation in late summer, will do well to supplement the other native and non-native nectar sources I have available.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what the names of my salvia plants are.

Martha

Dear docmom_gw, If you post a photo of your salvia to this group, I'm sure one of the many experienced gardeners will be able to identify it for you. If not, there is a heading called "Identify This Plant". People get a kick out of ID'ing them.