Salvia hians?

[Stephenb]

Anyone know if this is Salvia hians?

I've had it for many years, but I remember hearing that form the seed exchanges, it was most often an impostor..

 

[Gunilla]

It looks like a salvia I grow as Salvia forskaohlei. 

[Giles]

 

[Sinchets]

A long time ago I bought seed of both S.hians and S.forskaohlei. They both looked like yours Stephen, and I assumed it was S.forskaohlei, after reading it was a common 'mix up'.

[Gunilla]

Giles, I have grown a Salvia that looked like that and was told it was Salvia hians.  I thought it was wrongly named because the picture of Salvia hians in Betsy Clebsch's book of Salvias looked different.

Salvia hians ?

[Giles]

I think I've got a headache 

[Gunilla]

More headache  Some years ago I bought seed of Salvia dolichantha and S. przewalskii. The plants looked identical and match the picture of Salvia hians in Betty Clebsch's book   

 Salvia przewalskii or dolichantha or hians ?

[Sinchets]

Gunilla- your Salvia doesn't look like the pic of Salvia hians in "Perennials" by Phillips and Rix. It does however look like the plant I grow as S.przewalskii, though your flower is much paler. Is your plant very sticky/ resinous?

[Gunilla]

Yes Simon the calyx is sticky.  It is a big salvia with branched flowering stems up to 1,5m.  It seems perfectly hardy. 
The smaller blue and white salvia, possibly the real S. hians, on my first picture did not like my winters.

[Paul T]

The original pics here look like what I grow as Salvia forskaohlei, but having seen those descriptions I have no idea whether that is correct or not.  Seeds a little for me, and I love the rosette of leaves and the long flower stems.  A very good performer here.

[Sinchets]

Gunilla my S.przewalskii is also tall and the flowers and calyces are very sticky- to the point where collecting seeds is a messy job.
Paul, from the  pictures I have available here, Gunilla's Salvia hians with the split lip is correct. The plant with the white-centred lip with markings looks like pics of S.forskaohlei.

[Paul T]

Thanks Simon.  That means mine is definitely the latter, as the flowers on mine are the same as the first pic in this topic.

[Stephenb]

Thanks for clearing this up also for me everyone!!

[Gunilla]

Thanks Simon, from me too  .  I have tried to google these salvias several times but I only got more confused  .

Stephen,  I have lost my Salvia hians plants but had a search through my seed packets today and found some old seed that I once collected from my plants.  I don't know about viability (4-5 years old) but I will try them and could send some to you too, if you want.

[Sinchets]

I am not trying t stretch this out longer than is needed, but thought you might be interested to see wild S.forskaohlei in Bulgaria. The pictures were taken yesterday in the Strandja area. The plant wasseen most frequently on woodland edges and roadsides and was quite variable in theamount of markings on the lip, though the flower colour was constant. Some had completely white lips- others had lots of markings within the white area.