Salvia amplexicaulis: A herbaceous Salvia (winter dormant). Early summer flowering, growing approx 40 – 60cmH. with mauve purple flowers and maroon calyces.
Salvia amplexicaulis: is a herbaceous perennial with rosette type growth.
Flowers: Lovely long spikes of mauve / purple flowers in whorls around the stem. Flowers are falcate shaped, small but wide open. Hoods are purple / mauve and slightly hairy. The bottom lobe is curled back, allowing the two side lobes to stand out, guiding the bees into the wide open throat. Calyces are maroon coloured and heavily ribbed. This colouring gives the flowers a rich glow, especially as the stems are also this beautiful maroon colour.
Flowers appear in late spring and summer. Late summer spires of seed heads appear, which last well into autumn.
Leaves: are a light mid green, long, thin and sessile with a pointed apex. Amplexicaulis means clasping hairy stems. The leaves are directly attached to the stem without a petiole.
Salvia amplexicaulis: is perfect planted as a border along a path or in front of a hedge. If planting in an informal border, they are best planted in groups of 3-5 plants / clump.
Like most herbaceous Salvias, they like a sunny position with good drainage. Soil should have been improved with compost and manure. Mulch well to keep the root area cool during the hot summer months.
Planted in groups or as a border, the many stems produce a wonderful display of colour which attract hundreds of bees, butterflies and other insects.
Herbaceous perennials are perfect for those cold areas that receive frosts, as they are winter dormant. Mulch well to keep the soil around the crown warm. So when the sun really starts to shine the plants begin to poke up their green leaves and grow quickly to achieve good growth and flower spikes all within a few short months.
These wonderful displays of purple provide colour and vibrancy to the garden. They contrast nicely with other yellows, whites and vibrant pink perennials close by. Bees and butterflies love them.
Propagation is either by division, tip cuttings taken in spring before flowering spikes are tall or by seed, sown in the warmer months.
Occasionally available.