Salvia cyanicalyx: is a tall shade loving bushy shrub 2-3mH with pale blue flowers, dark calyces from autumn to  spring.

Coming from Sth American forests, Salvia cyanicalyx likes a dappled shady position.

Flowers: are semi tubular, very pale blue, with an almost white tube, both the hairy hood and bottom lobes are a pale blue.
The middle lobe is extended and curved down, opening the throat to allow bees, insects and small birds with long beaks  to penetrate further into the flower.

Flowers are held in small whorls of 2-4flowers along a green stem at regular intervals, so the flower stem elongates well above the foliage to attract passing insects and birds. These appear from late autumn, through winter and into spring.

Calyces: are a very dark purple, well ribbed on  each pointed lobe. Long pointed bracts soon fall off as the flower stem elongates.

Leaves: are a midgreen, broad cordate, well veined with a good textured surface and soft crenulations around the edges.

Salvia cyanicalyx is equally at home in  a sunny protected position from frost in winter and harsh dry winds in summer as in dappled shade from a deciduous tree.

The dark colour of the calyces and the pale blue flowers, make  a stunning  sight, especially when the sun is shining through the plant.

Plant with other tender shrubs that enjoy these conditions, but give it some room as it likes to spread it’s branches. Most stems remain well clothed, giving it a bushy appearance.
Best planted either beneath a tall deciduous tree to give it protection or as a background shrub or even in the middle of a large bed, surrounded with similar type shrubs.

As this is a tidy shrub,  the only  pruning in early summer will be to trim back the branches if they are encroaching into other shrubs and to trim  off any spent flower  stems.

Propagation: usually from tip cuttings at any time of the year. Cuttings root easily.

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