Plant Profile: Salvia Indigo Spires

Published January 17, 2012 | By Jane

Salvia Indigo Spires

The Salvia (Sage) family is filled with marvelous plants for your garden. Edibles like common cooking sage become colorful with purple flowers and come in decorative (yet still edible) foliage with yellows, whites, purples and varied greens. Annual red, purple, white and now pink salvias fill in empty spots in borders. And the choices in show-stopping perennials from tiny delicate specimens to huge shrubs, moisture-loving gems to tough native chaparral denizens, soft, subtle colors to blazing intensities, are immense. I could have chosen any number of salvias to praise (and I’m likely to do so in future months since salvias are some of my favorite flowering plants). But, I decided to honor ‘Indigo Spires’ because it is one of the showier blue-flowered varieties in my garden that has made it through hot summers and cold winters. In fact, the plant can take temperatures down to 10′F (though it is a good idea to protect the roots with mulch under freezing and there will be some damage). ‘Indigo Spires’ will grow 3′ – 4′ tall and should be pruned down low at the end of the winter to assure a shapely form for the next season’s growth. The long spikes, thickly studded with rich purple flowers, can grow to 10″ long. If cut under water they are both beautiful and long lasting as cut flowers. They also retain their purple color when dried so they are great in dried flower arrangements. Cutting for either reason is a good idea since you need to cut the spent blooms off anyway or they will weight the slender stems down to the point of breakage and the plant will sprawl and look unkempt. Since the plant has a very long blooming season, you will have plenty of flowers. ‘Indigo Spires’ is said to take full sun, but I have had the most success with partial afternoon or lightly dappled shade in the hot summer sun of the chaparral. Slightly drought tolerant, the plant will take to regular watering as well. Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ is a beauty in the mixed border or standing on its own — a true royal member of the sage family.

Originally posted 2010-04-25 07:42:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Be Sociable, Share!