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The first of November and yet today was a cracking day in West Fife with clear blue skies and a temperature of 16C. In the early afternoon it was warmer than many of the days we endured in July.I had a few butterflies in the garden along with a very late Common Darter. Some of my wife's Salvias were still flowering as is Lobelia tupa -a spike of which is nearly 8 feet tall (as we are yet to experience a frost this autumn).
Steve it's amazing to me that you have Lobelia tupa flowering there and I have it flowering here... on the other side of the World (almost). i guess it has a very long flowering period? I have some spikes just developing and others in full bloom. Did yours start in late spring too? Or is it later in your cooler climate?
Meanie,Have you every grown the California annual, Thistle Sage, Salvia carduacea?This coming season will be my first try with this species. I think that I have high hope for it.....and I do hope that it delivers!I have to admit that I have grown a few Salvias that did not deliver. Except down at our Sacramento Valley bungalow, I have given up on the frost tender Salvia species. Too much effort getting them through the winter here at the farm where we are already having freezing temperatures at night. That still leaves plenty of cold hardy Salvia species to grow. Having said all of that, I convinced myself to buy a plant of Salvia leucophylla the other day. I am always tempted by the fragrant foliage. I do hope that it makes it through the winter. I lost a small S. clevelandii that I planted last autumn to the winter cold. The old established S. clevelandii went through the winter without any sign of damage at all. Maybe I will protect S. leucophylla this winter. An established plant will survive most winters here at the farm.
Hi Meanie,I'm sorry but I haven't a clue as to the name of the blue-flowered Salvia. My wife seems to delight in binning plant labels at the earliest opportunity.
meanie,It is so mild at our Sacramento Valley bungalow that Tibouchina urvilleana grows right outside by our kitchen window. Blooms almost all year.
I wish that we had more room in the Sacramento garden. Years ago I grew Salvia confertiflora. Another huge shrub like S. gesneriiflora. It was always a fall - winter bloomer for us, generally starting before S. gesneriiflora which we considered winter blooming.I still like growing forms of S. splendens from seed (only the large growing forms, I do not like the bedding types). They will sometimes survive the winter in Sacramento. S. splendens 'Vanhouttei' is a beautiful clonal form. I finally lost it when I forgot to take cuttings and the plants planted outside all froze. Oh well Maybe I will find Vanhouttei again. I do like it and it is perfect for our Sacramento garden that seems subtropical.
