On 2009-12-30 23:21:01 +0000, June Hughes said:

In message , Sacha writes
On 2009-12-30 16:21:35 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
On 2009-12-30 11:54:09 +0000, Janet Tweedy said:

In article , Sacha writes
Anyone else going to do the flower count on 1st Jan? If Ray isn't up
to it I'll struggle round on my own. ;-)
We or rather I used to run it for the gardening club and put it in my
next newsletter but there were fewer and fewer entrants every we gave
up, though some of the keener had an incredible 64 different plants!!
Janet
It's fun to do for one's own records and of course of any group it's
going to differ wildly according to location but I always find it
interesting to see what others have found in their gardens.
Can't help feeling at very much of a disadvantage up here. All sorts
of things that were in flower in December have been blatted by the
frost, and there will be very little on Jan 1st, always assuming I can
even see it under the snow, which has not yet melted.

We've had a fair bit of frost here so will have to see what has
survived. And then of course, we had a LOT of rain the other night.

It's rather bizarre but I have, of all things, a sage plant in
flower.It has even survived the snow. Lovely bright red flowers, which
I have never seen before on a sage plant. Very odd. I have always
been unsuccessful at keeping sage alive, never mind it flowering.
Perhaps the garden centre put the wrong label on it, although it has
the distinct smell of sage.

There are a few with red or pink/red flowers. One is the pineapple
sage, Salvia rutilans, or S. elegans to some but that has a fairly
distinct pineapple fragrance to the leaves. There's also Salvia van
houttei or the annual Salvia splendens. The other that is a rusty red
and a very tall plant, is S. confertiflora but if yours is quite
bright, it's probably not that. This man has an amazing collection:
http://www.robinssalvias.com/blue/default.htm
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

In message ,
writes
In article ,
June Hughes wrote:

Thanks Nick. After all that rain yesterday, its flowers have wilted a
bit but I shall give it a go. I have several sage plants in the garden,
as we love sage, especially with fried liver.

Bean describes 8 species as more-or-less woody and hardy, and I have
grown another (which survived one winter, but not two). There is a
purplish form of S. officinalis, but the only red ones are other
species.

Thank-you. Mine is not woody.

Then it is unquestionably not the normal cooking sage - S. officinalis.
For some reason, annual sages are normally called salvias, and there
are several of those that have red flowers. Interesting that it is
still flowering, though.

It withstood the snow but today, after constant rain for a few days, is
looking very sad. Serves me right for tempting fate by talking about
it.
--
June Hughes

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2009-12-30 23:21:01 +0000, June Hughes said:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2009-12-30 16:21:35 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
On 2009-12-30 11:54:09 +0000, Janet Tweedy
said:

In article , Sacha
writes
Anyone else going to do the flower count on 1st Jan? If Ray
isn't up to it I'll struggle round on my own. ;-)
We or rather I used to run it for the gardening club and put it
my next newsletter but there were fewer and fewer entrants every
we gave up, though some of the keener had an incredible 64
different plants!!
Janet
It's fun to do for one's own records and of course of any group
it's going to differ wildly according to location but I always find
it interesting to see what others have found in their gardens.
Can't help feeling at very much of a disadvantage up here. All
sorts of things that were in flower in December have been blatted by
frost, and there will be very little on Jan 1st, always assuming I
can even see it under the snow, which has not yet melted.
We've had a fair bit of frost here so will have to see what has
survived. And then of course, we had a LOT of rain the other night.

It's rather bizarre but I have, of all things, a sage plant in
flower.It has even survived the snow. Lovely bright red flowers,
which I have never seen before on a sage plant. Very odd. I have
always been unsuccessful at keeping sage alive, never mind it
flowering. Perhaps the garden centre put the wrong label on it,
although it has the distinct smell of sage.

There are a few with red or pink/red flowers. One is the pineapple
sage, Salvia rutilans, or S. elegans to some but that has a fairly
distinct pineapple fragrance to the leaves. There's also Salvia van
houttei or the annual Salvia splendens. The other that is a rusty red
and a very tall plant, is S. confertiflora but if yours is quite
bright, it's probably not that. This man has an amazing collection:
http://www.robinssalvias.com/blue/default.htm

What a lovely site that is, Sacha. Thanks for the info. I think mine
is Salvia Darcyi from Mexico, as shown on the site. That would explain
why, although it was OK when the snow arrived, it has died off with the
thaw.
--
June Hughes

On 2009-12-31 16:29:13 +0000, June Hughes said:

In message , Sacha writes
On 2009-12-30 23:21:01 +0000, June Hughes said:

In message , Sacha writes
On 2009-12-30 16:21:35 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
On 2009-12-30 11:54:09 +0000, Janet Tweedy said:

In article , Sacha writes
Anyone else going to do the flower count on 1st Jan? If Ray isn't up
to it I'll struggle round on my own. ;-)
We or rather I used to run it for the gardening club and put it my
next newsletter but there were fewer and fewer entrants every we gave
up, though some of the keener had an incredible 64 different plants!!
Janet
It's fun to do for one's own records and of course of any group it's
going to differ wildly according to location but I always find it
interesting to see what others have found in their gardens.
Can't help feeling at very much of a disadvantage up here. All sorts
of things that were in flower in December have been blatted by frost,
and there will be very little on Jan 1st, always assuming I can even
see it under the snow, which has not yet melted.
We've had a fair bit of frost here so will have to see what has
survived. And then of course, we had a LOT of rain the other night.

It's rather bizarre but I have, of all things, a sage plant in
flower.It has even survived the snow. Lovely bright red flowers, which
I have never seen before on a sage plant. Very odd. I have always
been unsuccessful at keeping sage alive, never mind it flowering.
Perhaps the garden centre put the wrong label on it, although it has
the distinct smell of sage.

There are a few with red or pink/red flowers. One is the pineapple
sage, Salvia rutilans, or S. elegans to some but that has a fairly
distinct pineapple fragrance to the leaves. There's also Salvia van
houttei or the annual Salvia splendens. The other that is a rusty red
and a very tall plant, is S. confertiflora but if yours is quite
bright, it's probably not that. This man has an amazing collection:
http://www.robinssalvias.com/blue/default.htm

What a lovely site that is, Sacha. Thanks for the info. I think mine
is Salvia Darcyi from Mexico, as shown on the site. That would explain
why, although it was OK when the snow arrived, it has died off with the
thaw.

Could well be if it was brought in to be used as an annual. What you
can do, if you plant it next year, is over-winter some cuttings. That
site is extremely useful for lovers of Salvias. I find it almost
impossible to have a favourite but I'm very fond of S. discolor which
is very tender and very sticky, the intense blue of a good S.
guaranitica and S. involucrata which attracts the humming bird hawk
moth in a warm late summer spell.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2009-12-31 16:29:13 +0000, June Hughes said:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2009-12-30 23:21:01 +0000, June Hughes
said:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2009-12-30 16:21:35 +0000, K said:

Sacha writes
On 2009-12-30 11:54:09 +0000, Janet Tweedy
said:

In article , Sacha
writes
Anyone else going to do the flower count on 1st Jan? If Ray
isn't up to it I'll struggle round on my own. ;-)
We or rather I used to run it for the gardening club and put
my next newsletter but there were fewer and fewer entrants
every we gave up, though some of the keener had an incredible
64 different plants!!
Janet
It's fun to do for one's own records and of course of any group
it's going to differ wildly according to location but I always
find it interesting to see what others have found in their gardens.
Can't help feeling at very much of a disadvantage up here. All
sorts of things that were in flower in December have been blatted
by frost, and there will be very little on Jan 1st, always
assuming I can even see it under the snow, which has not yet melted.
We've had a fair bit of frost here so will have to see what has
survived. And then of course, we had a LOT of rain the other night.

It's rather bizarre but I have, of all things, a sage plant in
flower.It has even survived the snow. Lovely bright red flowers,
which I have never seen before on a sage plant. Very odd. I have
always been unsuccessful at keeping sage alive, never mind it
flowering. Perhaps the garden centre put the wrong label on it,
although it has the distinct smell of sage.
There are a few with red or pink/red flowers. One is the pineapple
sage, Salvia rutilans, or S. elegans to some but that has a fairly
distinct pineapple fragrance to the leaves. There's also Salvia van
houttei or the annual Salvia splendens. The other that is a rusty
red and a very tall plant, is S. confertiflora but if yours is quite
bright, it's probably not that. This man has an amazing collection:
http://www.robinssalvias.com/blue/default.htm
What a lovely site that is, Sacha. Thanks for the info. I think
mine is Salvia Darcyi from Mexico, as shown on the site. That would
explain why, although it was OK when the snow arrived, it has died off
with the thaw.

Could well be if it was brought in to be used as an annual. What you
can do, if you plant it next year, is over-winter some cuttings. That
site is extremely useful for lovers of Salvias. I find it almost
impossible to have a favourite but I'm very fond of S. discolor which
is very tender and very sticky, the intense blue of a good S.
guaranitica and S. involucrata which attracts the humming bird hawk
moth in a warm late summer spell.

I shall do that, Sacha. Thanks.

Happy New year to everyone.
--
June Hughes