By Teresa2678
United Kingdom
I have a plant in my garden, but don't know what it is, so don't know how to care for it. can anyone help. I have 3 of them in different colours. The flowers look like lobelia.
- 6 Aug, 2015
Answers
Yup, agree with all the above, except I grow mine on cold, wet, heavy clay - they are not meant to survive on this, but they do! (Hope I haven't spoken too soon....).
6 Aug, 2015
Some people advise covering the plant with a large frost proof terracotta pot over the winter.
6 Aug, 2015
Thank you all for the advice. X
21 Aug, 2015
Looking at the photos online I definitely think they are salvia microphylla. They do not look like praetens so much.
21 Aug, 2015
They are Salvias, Teresa. Not the bedding salvias we often see but these are sub shrubs....hardy-ish woody perennials.
The pink one looks like S. microphylla. There are many cultivars, yours could be (among others) Icing sugar. I have several different cultivars including Cerro potosi, Icing sugar and hot lips and they've been in the garden for many years.
Free draining soil in a sheltered hot, sunny site is essential. I prune mine back by a third in March. They hate sitting in heavy cold wet soil during winter.
The second one looks like Salvia Praetens, another one i've grown but not managed to get it through the winter yet. They need similar conditions to microphylla but either grow them as an annual from seed each year or dig them up and bring them in. You could try a 6" layer of compost or dry leaves over the roots.
6 Aug, 2015