Salvia hians: is a herbaceous perennial from alpine regions in Kashmir. Growing 30-60cmH, basal growth with dusky violet flowers in summer.
Salvia hians: makes a mound of basal growth with long petioles and leaves.
Flowers: are dusky mauve colour, a falcate shape. The tube is fat and inflated, the hood is small with the bottom lobes being curled back, hanging down to allow insects to crawl inside the flower.
Flowers occur in loose whorls along a stem that is often branched, held high above the leaves to catch passing insects.
Flowers appear in late spring, through summer and often with repeated blooms where the autumn is mild. The bottom lobes are delicately marked to attract bees and other pollinating insects.
Calyces: are small with blunt lobes, ribbed, often showing sticky glandular hairs along the ribs. Colouring can be either green with dark brown colouring at the end of the lobes or the whole calyx appears as a brown red colour.
Leaves: are mid green, slightly hairy above, lanceolate oval in shape, but often looking lineal as the leaf margins are curled beneath. They varying in size from 10-15cm long, all having an equally long petiole which can be coloured.
Salvia hians: is a useful plant for a small border or in a rockery. Plant in a sunny sheltered position among other small groundcovers liking similar growing conditions. Coming from Alpine areas, it should have soil that is gritty and well drained to ensure it doesn’t rot over the winter months.
Planting S. hians in a large pot in a sunny position is ideal. When in flower this makes quite a splash of colour and interest. During the summer months it should be mulched well to keep the root area cool.
At the end of autumn when the plant is going down for winter, clean up by removing dead leaves and stems. If growing a pot, cover with grit gravel to prevent slugs and snails from finding the new young shoots. Feed when shoots appear and begin applying mulch when the plant is established again.
Propagation: is either by seed or by division in early summer, when the plant is growing strongly.