Salvia chamaedryoides : A low grey ground cover 10- 20cm H for a sunny position with bright blue flowers for most of the year.
Salvia chamaedryoides: is similar to Salvia ‘Marine Blue’, but is a groundcover with small grey leaves.
Flowers: are a bright blue with a hint of mauve, with a small hood and a large bottom lobe, that has prominent white bee line running from the lower lobe up to the throat.
This acts as a landing strip for bees and other insects. Bees and moths love these flowers.
Flowers appear in pairs along a coloured flower stem, held well above the foliage to attract passing insects. Buds are nicely elongated and plump before the flowers burst open. Predominantly, flowers appear over the spring summer season, but can be seen during autumn and winter.
Calyces: are often coloured a blue grey which are sparsely ribbed, each lobe being fairly blunt.
Leaves: are a small, elliptical, silver grey with very fine cilia around the edges and fine silky hairs on the surface. Most stems are well clothed with leaves.
Salvia chamaedryoides: is a great ground cover for those hot sunny positions, grown at the front of the bed or gracefully cascading over a sleeper or rock etc. It looks great when grown in front of a dark or coloured hedge. It grows easily and well, making a good clump in no time.
This Salvia is excellent for a grey garden. It blends well with whites, soft pinks and other pale blue and mauve perennials. It contrasts beautifully with bright or dark coloured reds, crimsons, vivid purples.
Liking a sunny position, it’s not fussed with soil, growing equally well in a hard to grow hot spot as in a well prepared bed, but does not like wet feet or soggy soil, it’ll rot off quickly. A tough hardy plant for summer heat and winter cold, will tolerate a light frost.
Although a groundcover, it does appreciate being trimmed to keep it bushy and looking good.
Propagation: Easy to propagate by tip cuttings or layering, taken at any time of the year.