Blue Salvias

Blue Salvias

Salvia azurea is a great plains native plant with sky blue flowers. Wild forms of this Salvia azurea tend to be floppy, but Salvia 'Little Boy Blue' is sturdier with upright 4' tall stems, in late summer, displaying dozens of pure azure blue flowers. The cultivar 'Nekan', also features an improved upright habit and azure blue flowers. Pinching a few times early in the year helps increase the branching and reduce the tendency to flop as does locating the plant in drier soil. Brushing against its fragrant foliage releases a typical sage-like scent. Some people like to grow Salvia azurea combined with perennial prairie grasses which will can give the salvias some support.

Blue

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For those of you who like dark blue, you must try one of the dark blue Salvia x sylvestris (aka Salvia nemorosa) cultivars on the market. This Salvia hails from Europe and Asia and has a more compact branching habit than many other blue salvias, and it produces tons of long flower stalks covered with intensely colorful flowers. In addition, the foliage is sage-ly fragrant. The award-winning cultivar 'Caradonna' features vivid blue-violet spikes of flowers on black stalks in mid-summer. Salvia nemorosa flower spikes are popular in cut-flower arrangements. Salvia chamaedryoides has really clear blue flowers atop a clump of silvery leaves...the combination of blue and silver is quite popular. This blue salvia is native to Mexico (don't tell Trump!) and produces its blue flowers for a long period of time from early summer to early fall. Pruning once per year helps improve the habit and stimulate lush growth, and deadheading stimulates even longer blooming.

Salvia farinacea is a Texas native salvia with several blue color forms. If royal blue is your color, then you must try the cultivar 'Henry Duelberg' whose intense blue flowers are simply dazzling. As a bonus, the leaves also have a nice fragrance...somewhat like culinary sage. This species keeps the salvia blues going in your garden for a long period...from June until frost. Pruning back tall stems after the main bloom cycle is finished helps keep the plant bushy.Clear sky blue flowers atop long stalks define this RHS Award of Garden Merit winning blue salvia. Salvia uliginosa is one of the few salvias that like moist soils (it is known as the bog sage) but it also performs well in dry soils (and stays a more manageable height too). This blue salvia spreads via stolons into a nice mass filling your garden space or giving you plenty to share with friends. Growers of Salvia uliginosa are treated to its blue flower show for quite a while, from June to early fall. The stems and leaves of Salvia uliginosa are a little bit sticky…but then again, when we garden outdoors in the hot summer, so are we. (Source: www.plantdelights.com)