The group met on Zoom for our September lecture and was entertained by Vicki Weston of Weston Salvias. She covered the topic of Salvias, which are flowering at this time of the year, some of which have been known to still be in flower on Christmas Day! Vicki has a collection of over 6000 plants at her Welsh nursery. She showed tempting images of some of her favourite recommendations. Salvias come in a wide range of colours from creams, through to pinks, apricot, reds and blues.

Vicki showed images of light coloured ones ‘Heatwave Glimmer’ and ‘Trebah Lilac’ followed by the pink and white ’Dancing Dolls’ and ‘La Mancha’ with lemon flowers tinged with peach. In the blue range we saw ‘Blue Merced’ and ‘Blue Note’ both in the cooler spectrum while in the deep colours ‘Mulberry Jam’ and Salvia fulgens were recommended. The latter is a tall one and can sometimes still be flowering on Christmas Day. We viewed many more but too many to mention!!

‘Amistad’ with its dark purple is splendid. Bi-coloured ‘Hot Lips’ and ‘Amethyst Lips’ have also become popular but their colours may change depending on the temperature. The later salvias are usually tender and include involucruta ‘Bethellii’, ‘Concertiflora’ and patens. These provide excellent autumn colour. They plus many more salvias need protection in the winter.

Salvias require well drained soil but can tolerate drought and require little attention but they can die from’ wet feet’. However, many can survive the winter in a sheltered environment. Others need to be kept in a frost free environment. When planting in clay plenty of grit needs to be added. One should leave cutting back to the spring after earlier mulching. Vicki provided other useful tips about planting and strong varieties and how to take cuttings. The lecture gave us all plenty of encouragement to continue to grow Salvias!