How to Care for Salvia Viridis

[cyynica]

What's the best way to care for salvia?

[Jess]

Nope, wrong section cyynica
Nevermind, the powers that be will move it to the right one hopefully.
Salvia....Hot, dry, sunny...or not! Depends which one you have. Most are dry sun lovers.
Do you know the name?

[cyynica]

Oops!

I have the card that came with it, I'll have to look and see what type it is. Thanks!

ETA: It's Salvia Viridis. I don't know if it matters, but I'm in CO.

[bullthistle]

From spring to summer, this annual produces multiple flower spikes with tiny flowers enclosed in showy bracts in shades of white, pink, or purple and marked with darker veins. Plants grow 18-20 inches tall and about half as wide. They are especially dramatic in large groupings. Salvia viridis is excellent as a long-lasting cut or dried flower. Generally full sun and well drained soil, which means amending the soil so moisture is retained after watering.

[cynthia_h]

From Sunset's Western Garden Book : There are over 100 varieties of Salvia spp.--the largest genus in the mint family--available to gardeners in the West. (Sunset defines "the West" as those states and provinces west of or including the Continental Divide, so definitely Colorado!) There are over 900 named varieties worldwide. Some varieties of Salvia will repel pests; others will attract them.

Sunset has divided the West into 29 gardening regions based on many criteria, not just winter minimum temps, like the USDA Hardiness Scale does. The USDA Scale has only 10 or 11 zones for all of North America. The Sunset zones in Colorado are: 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A (only near Grand Junction), and 10 (only in the southeasternmost corner of the state).

Re. Salvia viridis: "(S. horminum). Annual Clary. Annual. All zones. Native to the Mediterranean, western Asia. Rapid, upright growth to 1.5 to 2 feet high, 1 foot wide. Medium, green, 2-inch, oval to oblong leaves with blunt ends, notched edges. Inconspicuous cream or pinkish flowers with showy 1.5-inch, dark-veined bracts in violet, pink, or white. Blooms in early summer; another wave of bloom may follow if stems are cut before flowers go to seed. Bracts remain showy after flowers fade, dry well for winter bouquets. Sow indoors early; sow outdoors in midspring. Claryssa is a mix offering bushy, compact plants (to 16 inches) with bracts in intense shades of the typical colors."

Cynthia H.
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17

[minnesota_girl]

I grow salvia nemorosa 'May Night'. Mine blooms in early to mid summer repeating in the fall. It's full sun, and prefers well drained soil. Here it is a perennial, USDA zone 4 to 8.

Other:
Attracts butterflies.