I dug up my Black n Blue Salvias this year, almost the same as Amistad, not to bring it in for the winter, just to divide, this is what I found, be careful how you lift it they are very heavy and break of quite easily.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I still haven't go around to moving my Amistad (which is still in flower although it's turned chilly now so I don't think it'll produce any more new ones).
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Not as large as those! Mine had been planted out from a pot and it came out still with a similar shape and I just found a pot the right size and stuck it back in. It didn't even notice and is still flowering away in the green house
My other salvias were still in pots and had almost stopped flowering. When I brought them in they all had a new flush of flowers because it was so much better inside than out. I don't cut mine back every year; letting them get a bit shrubby gives me taller plants and reduces the risk of slugs eating new foliage. They just tick over until spring is nearly here and then have new leaves.
Thank you @borgadr I've just been looking at Verbena bonariensis after reading your post. I'm relatively new to gardening and although mainly in to roses i've wanted to save a space for plants that attract butterflies and moths. Verbena bonariensis looks ideal.
I have enough space for these, along with Amistad and Buddleja 'Butterfly Candy little purple'. Although i'm still undecided with Amistad.
I've just seen Ronnie O'Sullivan at the garden center. I think he was eyeing up a plant.
Just be aware that not all salvias are reliably hardy @HarryWhite, so your climate will dictate what you do with them - ie bringing them inside and/or taking cuttings etc. I only have the bone hardy S. caradonna which is fine. They all need nice free draining soil and a sunny site - as will the V.bonariensis. You can take cuttings of that too, to build stock or back it up, and some people find they seed freely as well
Bear in mind too that you'll only get those moths if they actually come to your area
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@HarryWhite - if you're interested in attracting hummingbird hawk moths, I had one visiting my garden all sumer and it nearly always made a beeline for the Verbena bonariensis.
I couldn't say if Salvia amistad attracts them (I don't grow it), but there was an unusually high number of those moths around this year, so I'm sure if you start thread on the subject there will be people on here who'll know.
I also find Verbena bonariensis best for humming bird hawk moth.
I've been toying with the idea of getting Salvia Amistad for a while now. From a wildlife point of view i wanted one because i read somewhere they are a good plant for the Hummingbird Moth. Has anybody seen these moths around the plant at all?
The thing that puts me off, is that i'd have to dig it up every winter and my only storage is a dark shed with only a small window. Would it be ok with just a few hours of light a day?
Where i live i could maybe get away with not over wintering it if it wasn't for the fact that i dont have good soil drainage.
If you grow it in a pot you can leave it outside all year round (certainly in Worcestershire), just bring the pot close to a house wall if severe frost is forecast. That said Salvia Amistad has survived in a pot at the end of my garden in Nottingham for years, without special treatment.
If you want to bring it in to an unheated shed for the winter, don't worry too much about light. It will be dormant anyway.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
@HarryWhite I have a few tender plants (e.g. Penissetum rubrum) that wouldn’t survive my winters outdoors, so I grow them in plastic pots sunk into the ground. That way they look a natural part of the border during the summer but can be easily brought in to a cool, dark shed to overwinter. If you have a spare empty pot to slot in when you take the potted plant out that stops the soil slumping in it’s absence. You could try that, maybe sitting the sunken pots on a layer of rough stones or gravel to help drainage.
I grow plants that like it free-draining such as agastache, salvias, verbena bonariensis etc., absolutely fine directly in my poorly drained, heavy but amended clay amongst the roses, but my winters tend to be dry. Its the cold, soggy and wet combo that gets ‘em.
Hummingbird hawk moths are most attracted to agastache out of all of those, but they do visit the others. My very best hummingbird plants the shrubby orange agastaches. I have one called ‘Tango’ and another tangerine something.. they go totally nuts for those.
I stopped growing salvia guaranitica black and blue because the roots grew enormous (like Lyn’s beasts) and long runners invaded and choked rose roots several feet away. I find Amistad much better behaved, longer flowering and less demanding. Terrific plant well worth growing.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
I live in North East Nottinghamshire and many supposedly tender Salvias (Amistad included) have survived the winter here for the past few years in the ground with a mulch of leaf mould or composted bark. I usually take cuttings as insurance but unless we get a particularly harsh winter Amistad (which is supposed to be hardy down to -5 degrees in any case) should be fine if your soil is free draining. We are on free-draining sandy loam over gravel. Last year even Blue Suede Shoes and others surprised me by emerging in the Spring. If left in the ground Salvias are much later to show than the potted ones and as has been mentioned slugs, or in my case snails, can be a problem early in the year. I have found Super Trouper another very good and relatively hardy and vigorous Salvia which grows to a similar height as Amistad but is a lovely bright blue. This also overwinters in the ground for me.
Posts
I've just been looking at Verbena bonariensis after reading your post.
I'm relatively new to gardening and although mainly in to roses i've wanted to save a space for plants that attract butterflies and moths. Verbena bonariensis looks ideal.
I have enough space for these, along with Amistad and Buddleja 'Butterfly Candy little purple'. Although i'm still undecided with Amistad.
Bear in mind too that you'll only get those moths if they actually come to your area
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you want to bring it in to an unheated shed for the winter, don't worry too much about light. It will be dormant anyway.
Hummingbird hawk moths are most attracted to agastache out of all of those, but they do visit the others. My very best hummingbird plants the shrubby orange agastaches. I have one called ‘Tango’ and another tangerine something.. they go totally nuts for those.
I stopped growing salvia guaranitica black and blue because the roots grew enormous (like Lyn’s beasts) and long runners invaded and choked rose roots several feet away. I find Amistad much better behaved, longer flowering and less demanding. Terrific plant well worth growing.