Salvia ‘Mirage Blue’
Salvia ‘Mirage Blue’ : is a small compact greggii type Salvia which performs beautifully most of the year .
Salvia ‘Mirage Blue‘ provides real impact for colour within a garden .
Flowers: although the name implies a blue colour, the flower is actually a dark purple blue colour .
The whole flower is the same colour with the bottom lobes showing a lovely little white beeline at the throat to guide the bees and other pollinating insects further into the flower.
Once in flower, this small shrub will continue to flower for most of the year, until clipped down to clean out or shape. All flowers are held in small flower heads above the foliage to attract any passing insects.
Calyces: are a dark purple. They are so dark, they almost look black.
Lobes are well ribbed and very pointed with a soft tip. They seem to drop off after the flower has finished. Even the flower stem is a dark colour.
Leaves: are a typical greggii type, showing mainly the midrib, with a few crenulations around the edges, indicating the shrub is a cross.
All stems are well clothed with leaves. The shrub usually only grows from a central stem, with many side shoots, which helps to make a nice bushy shrub, especially if regularly dead headed and clipped for shape..
Salvia ‘Mirage Blue’. is a fine addition to any garden, that purple colour making a real impact to the garden bed. A standout colour among other soft pinks, whites and yellows and even pale blues or mauves. Plant it in the forefront of a bed or dot them around the garden for impact and interest. It would also do well in a mixed border with other contrasting shrubs and perennials. A lovely offset to a showy white perennial or a lovely contrast to a patch of pale pink groundcovers.
Grow in full sun, it’s not fussed about the soil, proving very hardy for both the summer and winter seasons, once established, tolerating a light frost.
Having flowers over a long period in a bonus to any garden, especially in winter, providing food for bees and moths which love visiting this shrub.
Maintenance: As the plant flowers over a long period, it’s best to trim in the summer months for shape, then in winter or colder months, cut back to clean up the shrub, cut out any dead or twiggy stems. Once cleaned up, it won’t take long before it’s back into full leaf again and beginning to flower in late winter early spring.
Feed well and mulch to keep the roots cool in the hot dry summer season and warm in the cold months.
In spring, feed well and mulch to keep the roots cool in the summer season.
Propagation: Tip cuttings of new growth is advisable, taken when new shoots appear in spring, before the flower buds appear. But generally tip cuttings can be taken at most times of the year.