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Northwestern Gardening Salvia

Salvia greggii, S. microphylla & Hybrids, self-seeding?

8 months ago

last modified: 8 months ago

In past gardens I never explored these species, probably because the red and white 'Hotlips' makes me feel nauseous. The epic June heatwave last year in the Northwest really woke me up to the need to plan for extreme heat and drought, and I planted my first cultivar, 'Mirage Violet'. Incredible non-stop blooming performance through the extreme heat last summer, cruised through constantly saturated Willamette Valley clay all winter, multiple severe freezes in April after leafing out, and is now blooming again. This spring I added 'Mirage Deep Purple' and 'Radio Red', both are just starting to bloom. And, I think I now see tiny seedlings from 'Mirage Violet'! Anyone have experience with S. greggii or the Mirage Series self-seeding, will the seedlings be worthy of keeping in the garden, will they be a variety of colors and sizes?

Featured Answer

artinnature
Original Author

4 months ago

last modified: 4 months ago

Linda, Interesting about rooting quickly when cutting for bouquets! My seedlings survived and grew all summer and are now blooming. One looks nearly identical to 'Mirage Violet' but the other one has dark pink flowers, I'm not a pink fan but they are actually quite nice.

I have increased my collection and now have 'Radio Red', 'Mirage Deep Purple', 'Mirage Cherry Red' and 'Amethyst Lips' in addition to 'Mirage Violet'. When I deadhead I just toss the clippings back into the mulched bed in hopes of more, and more varied seedlings!

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Comments (7)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 months ago
I'd be interested in what other PNW gardeners have to say :-) I have grown various of these species (and x jamensis) in various gardens over the years and none have ever self seeded for me. In fact, they tend not to be a very long lived presence in the garden at all, lasing only a couple of years. I have a feeling Seattle area summers are just not hot enough to their liking.

The exception is the "nauseous" microphylla 'Hot Lips' :-) Despite extreme neglect, this is a blooming machine, producing flowers neither I or the hummers find the slightest bit nausea inducing from April through until November or December and is reliably perennial here long term.

But I have never seen a seedling........
CA Kate z9
8 months ago
These Salvias pollinate, cross and seed themseves A LOT. There is a bee that bites the back to get at the nectar and prevents seed making. Perhaps Gardengal has those.

I have a Hot Lips cross that happened many, many years ago and I brought her solely from the old house to the new. ”Kiss my (sic) Wips” is named after my Granddaughter that would always say that as a toddler. This one is white and the bottom lip is baby pink. Since it is the only kind I have, it has stayed true… but come up everywhere.
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Microphylla Hot Lips has a good survival rate up here in zone 6b/7a and even involucrata will survive some years so I bet your plants will be fine. A hard winter will set back the bloom time of microphylla and greggii. Shoots on old wood will sometimes bloom as early as April or early May here while shoots from the crown can take a month or more longer to set flowers. I suspect that how long the extreme cold lasts is nearly as important as how low the actual temperatures get - within reason. The old stems on my plants seem to slowly die back as the winter progresses. A couple of years ago we had a wonderfully warm March and the sages came through like champs. The Cherry Queen patch was in bloom by the first week in April and the first greggii "Wild Thing" followed about 2 weeks later. By contrast, last year we had several periods of extreme cold, including several lows around 8 degrees in March. Several cultivars suffered high loses and several others survived,including Hot Lips, but failed to thrive, growing to less than half their normal size.
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As I've found the greggii labels to not always be very accurate, I am just saying how mine were labeled by the nurseries and they have not been verified by an expert. I'm not a collector, but I use a lot of salvias for the long boom season. All of mine are in bloom right now and have been blooming well since May. I am growing a few of the red greggii in part sun. The ones labeled 'cherry queen' are growing under a crape myrtle on the south west side of the house and doing great. They don't get morning sun, but get midday to afternoon sun. For almost three years now, the ones labeled 'Navajo red' are protected from afternoon sun by a large weeping willow. I thought I had lost those from our snows this winter. I cut back 4 of the 5 to the basal foliage and they have now caught up with the 1 that I left alone. The greggii varieties that are getting 8-10 hours of sun in my garden are 'Diane', 'Texas Wedding', 'Dark Dancer' and one that BB just had labeled as 'Autumn Sage' that is a hot pink color. Cameron
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Lois: I think Rich can answer better than I can as to timing your Seed planting. My seed are black when they are ripe. If you have the plant at your house take some cuttings. I have found that a better way to generate more salvias. Seed down here(in the south) comes up in the spring but I don't have snow cover to be concerned with either.If you have to do seed I would use something that is a more coarse soil with containers that have good drainage (old nursery pots).Your right it is a good idea to grow seedlings in a environment that you can have some control over. A cold frame (Clear plastic covered) with fans.If you have the space a greenhouse/potting shed works well also. As to color they should be red. Unless you have some different colored S.microphylla in the area then you can end up with hybrids. Art
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im going to take a few more pictures and add them to the list. the two shrubs with the white bee lines are very different. All of the greggii hybrids are my personal selections from seed. Normal color plant seed. All came from White, cream, or yellow seed of S. greggii. 2169 and 2170 are the same plant and 2200, 2201, 2202 are the same plant. Careful in these pictures there is a little bit of S. disjucta popping its stems through the actual species i need identified. thanks again
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Linda Urban
4 months ago
I have a Salvia greggi/microphylla Red Velvet that reseeds. (I am in California, zone 9/10). It's on year 2.5 now, I think, and I have found volunteers last year & this in pots nearby to the main plant. Quite sturdy and replant easily.

Have several others in the greggi/microphylla group - hot lips, and another red one I don't know the official name of. I have successfully taken cuttings of hot lips, and the other red one reseeds plentifully, providing lots of volunteers within about a foot of its roots. And if I bring them in for bouquets, they often get roots within about a week.
Linda Urban
4 months ago
Artinnature - wonderful that your seedlings survived. :) I've been eyeing some pink/violet ones in a couple of neighbors yards, and will no doubt ask for cuttings at some point soon! I *love* the way they smell.
SeniorBalloon
4 months ago
I hate all of you. I can't even grow Hot Lips for more than a year, much less the others. I'd gladly accept a bit of nausea if it would.
artinnature
Original Author
4 months ago
last modified: 4 months ago
I should probably qualify my nauseous comment. White and red flowers with a background of green reminds me of Christmas decorations...in May, June, July, August and September, and I can barely stomach Christmas decor in December, let alone all summer. I feel the same way about Fuchsia 'Santa Claus'!

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