Salvia ‘Black Knight’: is a large shrubby Salvia, 3m x 2-3m H,grow in a sunny protected position. Large purple flowers appear late summer through to winter.
Salvia ‘Black Knight’: makes a good screening shrub for fences, entrances, sheds and front doors.
Flowers: are a dark violet purple, tubular with a large corolla, held above the foliage in short panicles. Flowering late summer, through autumn and can continue through winter into spring. Little birds love this Salvia as they can rest and hide in the branches while feeding on the flowers.
Calyces: are a deep darker purple, ribbed with pointed lobes. This colouring creates a very dark flower.
Leaves: are a dark green, broad cordate, thin textured with a short elongated tip. Often confused with ‘Amistad’, but the leaves have a thinner texture with the veins not as indented as ‘Amistad’.
S. ‘Black Knight’: is often mistaken for ‘Amistad’, but this Salvia is a tall open shrubby plant, where as ‘Amistad’ is upright with perennial growth, only growing to 1.5-2mH.
Although this Salvia flowers in autumn / winter, it is frost tender and needs a sunny sheltered protected position in among other shrubs. Plant among deciduous trees and par with white or vivid cerise or even bright red flowered shrubs and perennials.
Birds and bees visit these flowers constantly through out the year.
Best to prune and clean out S. ‘Black Knight‘ by cutting down the old canes and twiggy growth in Spring after frosts to protect new young growth coming up.
Propagated: easily by taking tip cuttings of new growth in the spring.