There are about 700 species in the genus, distributed throughout the world. One of the varieties is widely used for decorative purposes. medicinal plant- sparkling sage, which has magnificent inflorescences saturated bright colors.
Royal look
Salvia owes its royal luxurious appearance not only to the variety of bright colors, but also to the characteristics and branches.
Stems are ascending or erect, branched or simple, up to 100-125 cm in height. The leaves are entire, sometimes pinnately dissected. The flowers are complex whorls, collected in paniculate, sometimes spike-shaped inflorescences.
Salvia blooms profusely from June until autumn frosts. The seeds ripen in August. They are collected multiple times. The fruit splits into four nuts.
Garden varieties of salvia
When considering how to grow salvias, you should familiarize yourself with garden varieties. In addition to the classic sparkling sage, gardeners use other species.
The most popular of them are the following.
- Salvia forest. Blooms purple, white,
- Salvia oak. It comes in pink and white, various shades of purple.
- Salvia meadow. The same classic colors are known.
- Salvia whorled. In addition to the standard purple ones, it can have red flowers.
- Salvia Transylvanica. Has lilac flowers.
- Salvia blue - hybrid variety. Has all shades of blue.
- Salvia japonica- non-standard
- Salvia marsh. Blooms blue-blue.
It's hard to study
Increasingly, flower lovers are wondering how to grow salvias. And all because it's pretty whimsical plant, requiring special care. Often, attempts to grow it end in failure - death of sprouts, non-germination of seeds, lack of flowering, and stunting of growth. The difficulties of breeding are influenced by many factors: planting time, quality of seeds, care features, climatic conditions, ignorance of amateur gardeners. Before you start planting sparkling sage, you need to carefully study all the information about the nuances of its cultivation.
Preliminary landing stage
Growing salvia flowers begins with purchasing seeds and preparing the soil. When purchasing seed, we are guided by three rules:
- We carefully study the shelf life.
- When choosing a manufacturer, we study reviews and recommendations.
- To avoid counterfeiting, please show quality certificates.
It is equally important to properly prepare the soil for the future plant. It must contain the necessary microelements and have an acidic environment. We choose any container for planting: it can be flowerpots, pots or simple boxes. Expanded clay should be placed on the bottom of the selected container, freely sprinkled with soil on top, not reaching the sides of 2 cm. After that, everything closes plastic film and left for a day. Do not try to find out information on how to grow salvia without seedlings, because the fastidious plant will not be able to develop from seeds immediately in open ground.
Time of sowing and planting in the ground
Salvia, the seeds of which are planted 80 days before sowing, sprouts quickly, but grows rather slowly. Best time planting seedlings - end of February - beginning of March. In 2 months the plant will get stronger, and after another 20 days it will be ready for transplanting.
The main mistake gardeners make is that planting in the ground is done at the wrong time. After all, salvia is an unusually heat-loving plant. Depending on climatic conditions, it is transferred to the garden. All manipulations with it take place at the end of May-June. In this case, stable warm weather should be established without sharp temperature fluctuations. Then the cultivation will be successful and will delight you with its beauty.
How to plant?
Seedlings (salvia cannot be immediately planted in the ground) are required when growing a perennial. For it, take several bags of seeds of different colors and varieties. Each type is placed in different boxes, and the packaging is attached to the container. It is necessary to implement design ideas in the country, garden plot. The seeds are simply poured into a container prepared in advance, sprinkled with 2 mm of soil, watered, and covered on top. Sage feels especially good in a separate pot, then the roots gain sufficient strength and become more resistant to external factors. After the second leaf appears, the seedlings are planted in separate containers.
Let's take a closer look at the question of how to grow salvia in open ground. After 75-80 days, you can start planting plants on permanent place. It is best to plant them in loamy or sandy soil, at a distance of 20-30 cm from each other. We treat the rhizomes very carefully; we dig a wide hole in the ground in advance, about 30 cm deep. We transfer the salvia, sprinkle it with earth without pressing, and water lightly. There is no need to cover the plant perennial shrub easily tolerates both shade and wind, only cold can greatly damage it.
A capricious plant requires special care
There is no doubt that, like any plant, this beautiful flower requires careful care. Many sources tell you how to grow salvia correctly, but they miss important points.
The golden rules are:
Why doesn't salvia grow?
What to do if growing flowers fails? Salvia is quite capricious, but you shouldn’t give up. Each situation can be dealt with by analyzing several factors.
The causes of plant death are:
- Frost.
- Diseases, such as blackleg.
- Excess moisture.
- Soil overoxidation.
- Root breakage when planting seedlings in the ground.
- External influences - bad weather, animals, unforeseen situations.
- Weeds.
Finally
Growing flowers is a fun, exciting process. This is an indescribable feeling of happiness when your hands create magnificent gardens, gorgeous flower beds!
Learning to grow a variety of crops is not at all difficult. And let every day beautiful plants make you and your loved ones happy.
Beauty salvia. Obtaining seedlings.
Beauty salvia landscape design occupies one of the leading places. Compact densely leafy bushes with flowering bright inflorescence decorate public gardens, city streets, and areas near administrative buildings. Amateur gardeners and summer residents did not ignore such beauty.
Serres Fortier / Flickr.com
There are two forms of salvia - tall (80-90 cm) and low-growing (up to 50 cm). Both forms are extremely popular. Salvia is easy to care for; it loves warmth, light, and moderate moisture. But he is afraid of frost.
It takes up to 100 days from the date of sowing to obtain flowering plants. In order to plant plants in a flower bed at the beginning of June (the period when the threat of frost has passed), the seeds must be sown no later than February.
Curly Vera / Myproplants.com
Last year I was incredibly lucky - I was able to purchase seeds of low-growing salvia, which had an accelerated development cycle and bloomed 60-65 days after sowing. At the beginning of April I started sowing. Any plant will grow and develop well in light, nutritious, water- and breathable soil, salvia is no exception. There was ready-made soil available, purchased from a specialized store - disinfected and disinfected.
Filled a plastic container with a lid with soil and moistened it. The seeds were carefully laid out on the surface and sprinkled with a small layer of soil on top, and again moistened with a spray bottle. She closed the lid and put it in a warm, bright place. After 10 days, shoots appeared, the lid was removed. After another week, the first 2-3 leaves appeared. Time to dive.
Belousova Tatyana / Myproplants.com
I used cassettes for picking. I filled it ¾ full with nutritious soil and planted the plants. After a week, the plants grew, the cotyledon leaves rose above the soil surface. To stimulate additional development of lateral roots, soil was added under the cotyledon leaves. This technique strengthens the root system.
Ryzhkova Inna / Myproplants.com
During the entire period, the seedlings were illuminated for at least 12 hours, the plants were kept warm at a temperature of +20...+23°C, and were periodically slightly moistened.
A week before planting, I fed the seedlings with universal liquid vermicompost fertilizer. I dosed according to the instructions on the package.
Landing at open ground.
By the end of May, the plants had developed well, inflorescences appeared in some places, and the seedlings were ready for planting in open ground. The risk of cold weather returning at this time is minimal, however, no luck - according to the forecast, frosts were expected in early June and planting had to be postponed for several days. While we waited for warm weather, individual plants began to bloom. But this did not stop them from settling well in their new place.
Jim, the Photographer / Flickr.com
I know many people pinch plants. I believe that such a procedure is important only for overgrown and elongated seedlings. Their condition really improves after pinching.
I chose a sunny site for planting salvia with well-fertilized nutritious soil. Thanks to this, the plants did not need fertilizing during growth. I planted the plants at intervals of 15 cm - I like dense planting, a continuous flowering carpet.
Further care consisted of removing weeds, loosening and watering during periods of dry weather. Salvia care is minimal, but the flowering period is long: from June until the first frost.
Blooming salvia can be transplanted into a pot before frost and moved indoors. The flowers tolerate such a move well and bloom profusely for a long time.
Hillary / Flickr.com
Everyone knows the wild growing salvia - sage. The unique properties of this plant help fight colds, inflammation, gastritis, and kidney diseases. In ancient times they said: “Whoever has sage growing in his garden does not need a doctor.”
I would like to wish success to amateur flower growers in growing such beauty as salvia.
Salvia is one of the garden flowers known not only for its beauty, but also for its benefits. It’s not for nothing that its name translates as “to be healthy.” When the time for flowering comes, this culture produces inflorescences gradually, decorating the area from summer until the first frost. There are about 900 varieties of plants. Because of such diversity, it can be difficult to decide what to plant in the country house or in the garden. Using photos and video recommendations, the article will tell you about the best varieties salvia, as well as the peculiarities of growing its seedlings.
Types and varieties of salvia with description
Salvia is often identified with sage. These are relatives belonging to the Yasnotkov family, which are different cultures. The first one is considered decorative flower, the second - medicinal. Salvia is a perennial plant, although in Russia it is often grown as an annual or biennial. Main characteristics:
- bush – compact, abundantly covered with leaves;
- height – up to 1.2 m;
- stem – erect or ascending;
- root – well developed, with a large number of side shoots;
- leaves - have white coating from the back;
- flowers - in the form of a spike or panicle up to 20 cm long;
- The color is bright and varied: from white to purple.
Advice. You can collect salvia seeds (not hybrids) yourself. They ripen about a month after the start of flowering and look like 4 nuts. Seed material remains viable for up to 5 years if stored in a dark and dry place.
Biological differences and cultivation characteristics became the basis for dividing all salvia varieties into 3 conditional groups.
Salvia brillianti
Subtropical. In their homeland, Latin America, plants of this variety live for many years. In Russia they are grown as annuals because they are not able to survive the harsh winter here. They love light and warmth very much. Kinds:
- shiny or sparkling - reaches a height of 0.8 m. Color - red, white, pink and the most valuable - purple. The most famous varieties are Sahara, El Salvador, Fire Star, etc.;
- bright red - grows up to 0.7 m. Varieties of this group - Cherry Blossom, Lady in Red, etc. - are colored different shades scarlet;
- mealy - the most unpretentious. Reaches a height of 0.9 m. The color scheme is white and blue. Common varieties: Victoria, Strata, Anschuld.
Mediterranean type. Salvias in this category tolerate cold better, but only in a snowy winter or with good preliminary shelter. Less demanding on moisture. Kinds:
- variegated (viridis) - grows up to 0.6 m, has pink and violet-blue flowers. Varieties: Polar bear, Pink Sandy, Oxford Blue, etc.
Salvia variegated
- whorled - a compact plant (up to 0.4 m) with leaves unusual shape and purple flowers (Purple rain and other varieties);
- dandelion - all parts of this plant smell good. Flowers are pinkish in color;
- salvia Jurisicha is the least valuable species in terms of decorativeness.
Frost-resistant. Salvia varieties in this category tolerate winter well, but require shelter. You can plant them in shady areas. They bloom profusely in the second year after planting.
- oak (forest) - grows up to 0.6 m. The color scheme is pink, blue, and purple. Popular varieties are Mainakht, Amethyst, etc.
- sticky - can reach 0.9 m. Of all the varieties of salvia, this is the one that has taken root in Russia best;
Salvia adhesive
- lush - bushes up to 0.6 m high are decorated with flowers of white, pink or blue-violet shades. Common varieties: Blue Queen, Rose Queen, Snow Hill.
Attention! Another salvia, Divinorum, is a plant prohibited for planting in Russia because it can cause hallucinations. Shamans of some countries use this variety to enter a trance.
When and how to sow seeds for seedlings
One- and two-year-old salvia can be planted from seeds or seedlings. For some species (for example, shiny), only the second propagation method is suitable. You need to start in mid-February. The deadline for sowing salvia in boxes is the beginning of March. For hybrids this may be later. You need to check the information on the seed packaging.
The soil for salvia needs to be loose and moist. The seeds should be spread over its surface and sprinkled with a thin layer of soil. The container must be covered with film, glass or newspaper, and placed on a sunny windowsill. Periodically you need to moisten the crops using a spray bottle. The temperature required for germination is +22…+24°C. Under these conditions, you can expect the first shoots in 7-10 days.
Attention! The seeds of the crop do not germinate smoothly, but this is a feature of salvia, and not an error in agricultural technology.
Seedlings that have 2-4 true leaves must be planted in pots, keeping a distance of 5 cm between seedlings. The cotyledons (first) leaves are buried in the ground. The second picking procedure occurs approximately 3 weeks after the first. For each sprout you need to take a separate container with a diameter of 10-12 cm. After the formation of the 5th true leaf, the bush is pinched so that it is more lush. From the beginning of April, the seedlings are hardened, gradually lowering the night temperature to +10°C.
Planting salvia
Planting a plant in open ground
Grown and strengthened seedlings are rooted in late May or early June. By this time, the threat of night frosts has usually passed. The place should be open, sunny, and the soil should be light. Before flowering, salvia is often moistened as the soil dries out. After flowering, watering is reduced. Care also involves loosening the soil and applying fertilizers.
Attention! Do not abuse nitrogen fertilizing, so as not to impair flowering.
Growing salvia using seedlings is not so much a troublesome process as it is a lengthy one. However, even a beginner can cope with it. But the effort will not be wasted. In the open field, flowers will delight you until autumn. After this, you can transplant the salvia along with the earthen lump into a pot and place it at home. Flowering will continue in room conditions.
Salvia has beautiful flowers, leaves and bush shape. She looks noble in the flowerbed and in the garden. Let's look at how and when to plant salvia, how to care for seedlings and combine them with other plants in the flowerbed. It is loved for its variety of colors, unpretentiousness, early and long flowering. Small flowers collected in complex whorled spike-shaped or paniculate inflorescences of red, white, pink, of blue color. New varieties are making this plant more and more popular. Wild salvia (sage) has medicinal properties, contains essential oils and is used in cooking. Sadovaya is a source of aesthetic pleasure.
- 1 In the flowerbeds of parks and gardens, sparkling or shiny salvia is most often found. Bush 20-80 cm high (depending on the variety). Plants with large irregular bright red pyramid-shaped flowers are known to everyone, although there are varieties with white, pink and purple buds, differing in the size of the racemes and flowering periods. Compared to red salvia, sparkling white has a less dense inflorescence, purple has more dense pubescence, and pink has a short flowering period.
- 2 Salvia Mealy - a plant 60-90 cm high with loose inflorescences 15-20 cm long, predominantly blue-blue color range located on high shoots. The Anschultz variety has silver-white flowers. Drought resistant.
- 3 Salvia red has straight, densely pubescent stems, ovate leaves and loose inflorescences up to 30 cm long.
- 1 Plumosa. Its bright purple flowers are collected in short (20 cm) but very dense inflorescences; the bush up to 60 cm in height is distinguished by its decorative appearance and flowering atypical for this species.
- 2 Marcus. The height of the bushes is 20 cm, so it is used as a ground cover plant. Blue-violet flowers occupy almost the entire part of the stem.
- 3 Ostfriesland. Bush 60 cm high, highly branched. Its special decorative feature is that the dense inflorescences are located at the ends of the branches, and when flowering the plant is completely covered with purple buds.
- seeds;
- dividing the bush;
- cuttings;
- air layering.
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Seedling care
Most types of ornamental salvia, although perennial, do not withstand frost and are grown as annual plants with a long development period: 70-100 days pass from sowing seeds to flowering. When should salvia be planted at home? If you can provide additional illumination for young sprouts, sow in the first decade of February. The last sowings are done no later than March 1-5.
The seeds do not need to be pre-soaked or treated with growth stimulants. Light nutrient soil is poured into a prepared container 5-8 cm high and disinfected hot water and, without waiting for complete cooling, lay out the dry seeds at a distance of 1 to 3 cm, depending on whether you plan to pick the seedlings. Salvia seeds are not very small, it is convenient to place them individually. They are sprinkled with a 2 mm layer of soil on top, lightly compacted, moistened, covered with film and placed in a warm place (+23...25°C). Usually there is enough moisture in the soil before the seeds germinate, and there is no need for watering, but if the soil is dry, spray it with a sprayer. When already swollen seeds are dried, there will be no sprouts.
Shoots usually appear after 10-15 days; they are placed on a sunny windowsill. During the day, seedlings should be illuminated for at least 13 hours. With a lack of light, seedlings stretch out and the leaves turn pale. To increase the intensity of natural light, reflective surfaces, such as frames with stretched foil, are placed on the windowsill with plants.
The main thing when growing seedlings is to get strong roots, so the seedlings dive. If drainage holes are not made in the seeding containers, then they must be made in individual pots to avoid rotting of the roots. Salvia is very afraid of stagnant moisture. Picking begins when 2-3 true leaves appear on the seedlings; the seedlings are buried down to the cotyledon leaves, this promotes the formation of new roots.
Some gardeners prefer to continue growing salvia until planting it in the ground in boxes or boxes. If salvia does not sprout, caring for the seedlings consists of providing nutrition; it is necessary to add soil as high as possible. Other gardeners carry out this procedure twice: in the phase of 2-3 leaves they are planted in large boxes, and after 3 weeks - in pots.
The necessary conditions
Salvia grows well in any soil mixture for seedlings. You can make soil for it yourself by mixing peat, sand and soil from the forest (1:1:1). The plant loves moderately moist soil. Optimal temperature after picking +15...+18°C, in April it is lowered to +10°C for hardening. When 3-4 true leaves appear, pinching is carried out, which stimulates tillering. Plants are fed if there is doubt that the bushes have enough nutrition. Home-grown bushes should have small buds. When they appear, the seedlings must be fed with any complex flower fertilizer.
It is undesirable if the seedlings have flowers on the windowsill; salvia will not be able to preserve them when transplanted.
A flower you like can be propagated vegetatively at home: take a cutting from a bush and put it in water. After it takes root (after 10-15 days), plant it in a pot as indoor plant. In winter it is necessary to maintain a temperature of +8...+12°C, in the spring it can be used as a queen cell. Any salvia is suitable for propagation by this method, since its natural life form is perennial. A bush grown from a cutting must be pinched.
Landing in the ground
Salvia is planted in a flowerbed in May if, according to weather forecasters, no return frosts are expected in the next 10 days. During this time, the plants will have time to take root, and the drop in temperature will not be dangerous for them. At night you can cover the plantings with lutrasil. The plant loves sun and calcareous, permeable soil. Of all the species, only salvia adhesive can withstand partial shade. It should be noted that on too nutritious soil the plant forms bushes with large leaves and minimum quantity colors. This often occurs from excess nitrogen in the soil, to which salvia is very sensitive. To restore normal development, 10 g of superphosphate is poured into 2 liters hot water and after a day the bushes are sprayed.
Transshipment of salvia, planting and care are not difficult. At what distance to plant seedlings, each gardener decides for himself: some prefer separately growing bushes, others strive to get a dense carpet of flowers. Dense plantings are not afraid of wind. Most often, a distance of 25-30 cm is maintained. A handful of humus and, if necessary, sand are poured into each hole. It is advisable to mulch the planted seedlings. If after planting there is an unexpected drop in night temperature and the seedlings are frozen, they will have to be pruned, as a result the appearance of flowers will occur a month later.
Further care for salvia is no different from caring for other flowers and consists of loosening the soil and fertilizing. The plant needs watering in dry weather until the flowers appear. Diseases practically do not affect her. Whiteflies, thrips, and aphids can cause harm. Snails and slugs eat the leaves. The best way to control pests is to use insecticides.
Salvia blooms from June until frost and produces a fruit of 4 nuts. Seeds remain viable for 5 years. If you have a varietal flower (not a hybrid), they can be collected and sown next year.
annual plants
As already mentioned, mainly in our climate, the tropical perennial salvia is grown as an annual ornamental plant. Differ in biological characteristics different kinds salvia, a description of the most popular of them is given below:
Among the numerous species, salvia variegated stands out. It is original with its bright leaves-bracts, which are colored pink color with green veins, giving the plant a decorative appearance before the flowers appear and throughout the growing season. However, this species is not used in culture due to the need to use supports, without which the plant will lie down.
Perennial salvia
By biological features Salvia is distinguished between annual and perennial. The latter are not afraid of frosts down to -18°C. Salvia oakbrava is grown as perennial and is considered the most frost-resistant and unpretentious of all species. The height of its stems reaches 60 cm, inflorescences up to 40 cm. Depending on the variety, pink, purple or lilac-purple flowers bloom from June to mid-September. The most common varieties of salvia oakberry:
The names of the varieties: Pink Glade, Lilac Glade, Lilac Queen - they themselves speak about the color of their flowers. The perennial salvia bush must be formed for better branching and the formation of new shoots. Pruning is done in the fall. Salvia crosses easily, so different varieties are best grown in different places garden
How to grow salvia oakberry? Varieties of perennial sage are propagated in the following ways:
In addition to the oak forest, silvia meadow, nutmeg, and lush are cold-resistant.
In combination with other plants
Salvia is usually planted in the flower bed after daisies, forget-me-nots and other spring flowers. It is often planted next to bulbous plants: when they fade, the overgrown sage will cover them. For flower beds, plants are usually chosen with long term blooms that do not lose their decorative effect for a long time. Salvia is one of them. The formation and thickening of its branches occurs quickly. The classic combination of red glossy salvia and petunia is considered outdated by many. But try to choose colors in a new way with a gradual transition from one color to another, for example from red to pink. The combination of pink salvia with pale blue lobelia looks romantic.
When creating a flower bed, you need to think in advance how the plants will combine in color and height. Considering that in flower beds warm colors in combination with cold ones create a harmonious contrast, red salvia is often planted with ageratum and cineraria. Red flowers look good next to green spaces. If you plant blue salvia with orange, they will look even brighter. In a small garden, bright salvias are planted in small groups; plants of blue shades in combination with white ones look more harmonious and lighter.
Most often, salvia is placed in the center of the flowerbed, framed by lower annuals that cover the lower part of the bushes. The loose inflorescences of some species do not form bright colorful spots, but fit perfectly into any landscape.
Salvia is often planted in pots and decorated with verandas, gazebos, balconies and other recreation areas.
