Monday 7 October 2013

Salvia For October

This year, I'm taking the late Geoff Hamilton's advice and visiting a nursery each month with a view to buying a plant which is in flower for my garden. Doing this should ensure that I have something blooming in my garden every month of the year.

When I visited the garden centre this weekend, there were lots of plants flowering, but when I looked at the information supplied with each plant, I discovered that many of them were blooming out of season and their usual flowering time was as early as spring to early summer. I had to look quite hard to find something that was and should be flowering now. I came away with this lovely salvia nemorosa Ostfriesland. It was the beautiful colour which caught my eye, such an intense violet blue.

Again, I've gone for a plant which is attractive to wildlife, both bees and butterflies are attracted to it, so it should help the bees at a time when lots of plants are winding down.

It is clump forming and has a compact, bushy habit. It's a perennial and is hardy so it should go on providing some much needed late colour in my garden.

30 comments:

  1. That is a great idea Jo, hope that you enjoy your new Salvia, it is a lovely colour.

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    1. I'm loving Geoff's advice, my garden should be colourful all the year round by December.

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  2. Another very pretty find. Well done. I'm becoming more tempted to do this next year as our garden is starting to look quite dull already.

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    1. It is pretty. I hope you do this next year, it will be interesting to see which plants you choose.

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  3. Is it fully hardy? The reason I ask is that we had a similar one Amistad that died over winter, I took cutting but they died as well - I should have protected them better, I'd check it up and take some cuttings which you protect better than I did.

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    1. I'm hoping it is. The RHS lists is as H7 - Very Hardy, which means it should survive temperatures lower than -20. I've just had a look for Amistad but I can't see that the RHS lists it, I think it's a newish plant. Such a shame that it died over winter, especially if it had been sold as fully hardy. I lost my salvia Hot Lips a few winters ago and realised later that I should have protected it somehow.

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  4. A good choice, which should do well. Flighty xx

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    1. I'm really happy wtih my choice for October. It's a lovely plant.

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  5. What a gorgeous colour..
    Julie :o)

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    1. It's a beautiful colour, so vivid. I'm hoping it grows well and produces a nice clump.

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  6. That is a lovely plant. I find it hard to resist anything in that really deep blue.

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    1. It's a gorgeous colour. I'm really happy with this plant, I do hope it survives winter.

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  7. I should think that lots of plants will have been confused by the differences in weather this year - very cold Spring, very hot Summer etc - and of course 2013 has been very different to 2012. That Salvia does look the biz though!

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    1. I'm already wondering what 2014 will bring. I think the last couple of years at least have brought challenging weather, I doubt next year will be any different. I'm really happy with my little salvia, I just hope it survives whatever weather is thrown at it.

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  8. I agree with you, that is a really beautiful colour.

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    1. There's so many variations on violet and blue, but this is a beautiful one. It was the colour which first drew me to the plant but I'm happy that it's wildlife friendly.

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  9. You've chosen some gorgeous plants over the months. The salvia is very pretty. It looks a bit like the salvia purple majesty. These plants look really good planted with verbena.

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    1. I'm very happy with the plants I've chosen each month, I just hope they survive the winter. I don't have any verbena in my garden, but it's another plant which I like so I may look in to getting something to complement the salvia.

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  10. Now that's a really intense colour Jo and should be be great for providing some welcome autumn colour. You must be pleased with it. Looking forward to seeing what you come home with next month :)

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    1. The colour is really intense, I think it will look even better as the plant grows and more flowers are produced. I'm really very pleased with it, I thought I'd be struggling to pick decent flowering plants up by now, but this was a great find. Not sure about November and December, I hope there's something which takes my eye.

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  11. It's lovely, and so great that it attracts bees and butterflies as well. I always notice them gathering on salvias. The colour is wonderful - so very intense. Good choice!

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    1. I'm pleased that I've chosen another wildlife friendly plant, I try my best to keep bees and butterflies in mind when making my choices.

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  12. What a lovely colour, that will really brighten up your border in autumn. You've been doing this collecting a plant each month for a while now, you must be getting quite a collection and something lovely to brighten up every month of the year. Its such a good idea.

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    1. It's a smashing colour, it should look really good when the plant's filled out a bit. Only two months left now, though I've got a feeling that they're going to be the hardest months to find something appropriate.

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  13. I love Salvia. I got a very similar one from the sell off at Chelsea a few years ago and it does really well all summer and autumn. That colour is gorgeous isn't it.

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    1. They're lovely plants. I had a red and white one, Hot Lips, but I lost it one winter. I'm hoping that this one does better. I love the colour, it's so vibrant.

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  14. That really is a beautiful shade of blue. I love salvia, the leaves are so fragrant when crushed aren't they. Your garden must be looking really good with all these new plants.xxxx

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    1. It's a really beautiful shade. The leaves are very fragrant. I'm looking forward to seeing how the plants do next year, I'm hoping that they all survive winter and give year round interest in the garden.

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  15. I love your blue-purple salvia. An Interesting blog. Maybe I'm your newest follower. I invite you to visit my blog. Thank you for sharing.
    Endah
    Indonesia

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    1. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I'm glad you like the salvia, I'm very happy with my choice.

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