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Salvia & Nepita

Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
in Plants
I am thinking of buying Salvia and Nepita plants as both are good for attracting bees.  Can I grow them in containers and what happens to them over the winter assuming they are both perennial?

Posts

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    You can grow them in in containers so long as they are a suitable size and the plants are kept fed and watered. In winter they will die down, as they would if planted in a bed, then they will grow back in spring.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    There is a wide variety of both plants - in height and bushiness.

    Salvias vary a lot on hardiness, so its good to check that for your area. There are some shorter nepita that might be better suited to pots and less floppy.
  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
    Thanks for your advice Busy and Fire.  I will go back to the nursery and check the labels.  My garden is getting full with so many plants that I grow from seed or cuttings, but I don't have either of these plants and would like to add them to my pots. Pity that they don't grow throughout the year though.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Salvias can flower from May (or even earlier) to past the first frosts. Bushy salvias will keep their foliage (in the south) in a mild winter.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Walkers Low is a good, reliable, not too tall Nepeta.
    A Salvia from the Nemorosa group isn't too floppy either.
    What about a Lavender? Keeps its leaves in winter.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • TheGreenManTheGreenMan Posts: 1,957
    I had three nepeta in pots last year. (2 Walkers Low and a Purrsian Blue)  I did nothing to them in Autumn/Winter.  They survived the week of snow and ice (the Walkers Low didn't even fully die back) that we had here at the beginning of the year.  I've now planted them all in the garden at my new place and they are all looking GREAT! 


  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I have a salvia greggii Lemon Pie whose leaves are looking much the worse for wear. I don't have this on the various other types I have. Any ideas? The leaves look robust, but marked up.







  • dappledshadedappledshade Posts: 1,017
    edited November 2021
    I wonder if that is whitefly damage Fire - my nepeta has been absolutely riddled with it this year and all the remaining leaves are mottled like yours.
    A bad summer, with too much rain didn’t help and I struggled to get on top of the whitefly, to be honest.
    Normally I spray regularly with SB Invigorator Spray, which keeps the little swines at bay, but this year I didn’t spray enough.
    It was also so cold that I didn’t bother with lacewing larvae like I normally do (they devour soft bodied pests).
    Best thing to do is pick off the affected leaves, clear up any fallen ones too, to prevent reinfection, spray well with SB now and after rain, and give it a good trim in spring, when it starts to wake up again. Then spray again.
    I do this because whitefly overwinter every successfully otherwise!
    Thats what I’m going to do with my nepeta anyway.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    My Bumble is still going strong too.
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