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Salvia Fruit Tingles

Salvia ‘Fruit Tingles’ is a small bushy  shrub 60cmH with  bright clear pink  flowers and very dark calyces. Flowering most of the year in a sunny position.

Salvia 'Fruit Tingles'
Salvia ‘Fruit Tingles’

Salvia ‘Fruit Tingles’: was found in the garden of Lyndi Garnett and named by Jillian as the pink flowers reminded her of the childhood sweets of Fruit tingles.

Flowers: are a clear bright pink, a typical microphylla type flower with the hood being a white pink with pink hairs, the tube is pink and the bottom lobes being pale pink. The middle lobe  can fade slightly leaving a lovely pink rim around the edge.

A white beeline can be seen distinctly at the throat.

Flowers appear most of the year until cut down, but will form again with a few weeks . Most flower stems are long with the flowers being positioned evenly  along the stem, seemingly  facing in one direction. All held above the foliage to attract passing bees and other pollinating insects.

Calyces:  are quite dark, beginning as green at the base then colouring to a dark green/purple colour, so they look almost black. All lobes are ribbed and pointed.   When pollinated, calyces become straw coloured and will remain on the stem until blown off or cut down.

Leaves: are a typical microphylla leaf, being a mid green, lanceolate to broad  elliptical. The midvein is prominent, other veins are seen  from beneath. Small soft crenations are found along the edges.

Salvia ‘Fruit Tingles: is a great plant to brighten up a dull or dark corner of the garden.   Although it enjoys a full sun position, it can happily flower in dappled shade, under a deciduous tree, providing it receives at least all the morning or the afternoon sun.

Plant with other white, purple and blue flowering small shrubs and perennials. Not fussy about the soil, this Salvia is tough and hardy for the summer heat and dry and the winter cold, tolerating a light frost.

At the end of summer when most of the flowering has finished, it’s time to prune back, clean out any dead or twiggy growth, cutting back stems to a good green bud.

Mulch well and feed in late winter, early spring before  the new flush of flowers appear.

Propagation: Tip cuttings are easily taken at any time of year from new growth.