Salvia ‘Baby Hope’: is a small microphylla type shrub, 40-60cmH with pale pink flowers most of the year, for a full sun position.
Salvia ‘Baby Hope’ is a hybrid of S.’Angelwings’, but with different shaped leaves and slightly different markings on the flowers.
Flowers: are a typical microphylla type flower shape, pale pink, with the hood and lower middle lobe being white and the tube and 2 side lobes being pale pink. The throat area has a large patch of pale pink, this being the beeline to attract bees and other pollinating insects , guiding them to explore further into the flower.
Flowers appear in whorls of 6 flowers along a green stem. These flower stems appear above the foliage to attract passing insects.
Most flowers appear in spring when the shrub begins to produce new foliage. As they have a long flowering period, flowers can be seen on shrubs for most of the year.
Calyces: these are primarily green, but may have coloured ribs and dark coloured tips. All lobes are pointed. These will remain on the flower stem if pollinated, but generally fall off when the flower has finished.
Leaves: These are small and heartshaped, mid green with rounded crenulations around the edges. Leaves are not as large, nor oval as it’s parent, but a lot smaller and neat. Most stems are well clothed.
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Salvia ‘Baby Hope’ was a seedling found in a local garden.
This is a great plant to have in the garden, a good addition to any mixed border, as it makes a fair sized clump of many stems. It’s bright and beautiful with pretty pink flowers that are always attractive and fresh looking.
Plant in a sunny position with other small subshrubs of pale mauve, purples, striking blues, whites, mainly colours of a pastel shade, but can be used as a foil and contrast with darker pinks and brighter blues and purples. Looking good lining a path or planted in a large mixed border.
This is a tough, hardy plant for the hot, dry summer season, only needing a few extra waterings when really dry, but is also cold hardy, tolerating a light frost.
Maintenance: By the ens of summer, many of the flowering stems can look a bit scruffy, so these need trimming to neaten the shrub. In winter, when most of the flowers have finished, it’s time to clean out the shrub, by getting rid of any dead wood and thin twiggy stems. Cut down to a good green shoot, lower down the stem.
Feed and mulch well to keep the root area warm in winter , feed again and top up the mulch again in summer to keep the root area cool and moist.
Propagation: Tip cuttings can be taken at most times of the year.