Posted by admin | Posted in Flowers and plants database, My home garden | Posted on 27-01-2010
Tags: Lady in red Sage, purple sage, red sage, sage flower arrangement, summer bedding sage, Victoria Sage, white sage
The species of Salvia most used as summer bedding are Salvia Coccinea “Lady in red”, Salvia Farinacea “Victoria”, Salvia Fulgens, Salvia Pratensis Haematodes Group, Salvia Splendens “Scarlet King” and Salvia Splendens Sizzler Series.
Salvia Coccinea “Lady in red” is an annual bushy plant that bears slender spikes of small but showy red flowers all summer long.
Salvia Farinacea “Victoria” is also an annual plant. The small, deep blue flowers are crowded on spikes held well above the leaves.
Salvia Fulgens is an upright, evergreen, summer-flowering, subshrub, bearing spikes of tubular, two-lipped red flowers. The oval, toothed or notched leaves are rich green above and densely white-woolly beneath. Salvia Fulgens provides brilliant color for bedding or containers. It may not survive winter in frost-prone climates.
Salvia Pratensis Haematodes Group is a short-lived perennial, known as Salvia Haematodes, forming basal clumps of large, dark green leaves. In early and mid-summer, spreading spikes of massed blue-violet flowers, with paler throats, emerge from the centre of the clumps. It provides color for bedding, infilling in beds and borders, or containers. “Indigo” is another attractive recommended cultivar.
Salvia Splendens “Scarlet King” is a compact, bushy perennial, with dense spikes of long-tubed, scarlet flowers. Scarlet King is usually grown as an annual, especially in cold climates. The flowers are borne from summer to autumn, above dark green toothed leaves. Its long-lasting, brilliant flowers are an invaluable addition to any baedding or container display. “Red Riches” and “Vanguard” also make fine bedding salvias.
Salvia Fulgens, Salvia Haematodes and Scarlet King grow in light, moist but well-drained, moderately fertile, humus-rich soil. Site them in full sun or semi-shade.
Salvia Splendens Sizzler Series are annuals, some of them. These are early-flowering plants with blooms in colors from red to lavender and white.