Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’: is a medium growing perennial for a sunny position which produces long spires of vibrant purple flowers all summer.
Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’: is a taller form than Mystic Spires’.
Flowers: a vibrant purple and small with a furry hood and an extended bottom lobe. The two side lobes are positioned flat beside the middle lobe which has a prominent white beeline.
This beeline looks like a landing strip, running from the bottom lobe right into the throat. This acts as guide for bees and other pollinating insect to enter the flower.
All the flowers are in whorls of 8 flowers, almost a 2 tiered arrangement where some flowers open before others, which extends the flowering period. All whorls are crowded along a long spire of up to 30cm long.
Calyces: are a dull purple, ribbed with blunt lobes. These last on the purple square flower stem long after the actual corolla has dropped off, allowing the purple colour of the spire to look as if the plant is still flowering.
The calyces are often used in Potpourri as their colour lasts for a long time.
Leaves: are a mid green, broad lanceolate in shape with shallow crenations along the margins. The texture is smooth, with veins well indented. In cold weather, the leaves often become burnished with autumn tones.
Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’: is best planted in a sunny position among other medium sized shrubs to support the stems. If grown in too much shade, the stems can become lanky and can flop easily, so growing among other shrubs gives them support.
S.’ Indigo Spires’ makes a wonderful vibrant background to other low shrubs and perennials providing a excellent contrast of the dark purple with other white or cerise coloured flowers.
When the flowering period is finished at the end of summer / autumn, the plants need to be cut back to a good green bud, to allow the plant to regenerate.
Cut out any dead stems, feed and mulch well to keep the root area warm during the colder months, feed again in spring as flowers are forming and mulch again to keep the root area cool during the hot summer months.
Propagation: is usually from fresh tip cuttings taken in early summer before most of the stems are in flower.