Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’

Japanese name: ラベンダーセージ
Scientific name: Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’

[Overview]
A perennial up to 1 m tall.
Leaves are simple and opposite, ovate to oblong, with serrated margins.
Verticillasters at the stem tips bear many flowers, so the whole inflorescence looks like a spike.
The flowers are dark purple and lipped, and the calyx is blackish purple.

[History]
It was a chance seedling discovered by the horticulturist John MacGegor at the Huntington Botanical Gardens.
It is thought to be a hybrid of Salvia longispicata and Salvia farinacea.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division or by stem cuttings.
It can overwinter outdoors if not exposed to frost, and even if the aboveground part dies back in winter, it will sprout again in spring as long as it does not freeze.
If freezing is a concern, protect plants in the ground by, for example, laying straw around the base, and bring potted plants indoors.
It prefers fertile, slightly acidic, sunny, well-drained soil.
In poor light it may become leggy and weak, and flowering is also poor.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
Letting it run dry causes flowers and leaves to drop.
Except in midsummer, apply slow-release fertilizer once a month, or liquid fertilizer once every week to 10 days.
Cut off flower spikes that have finished blooming.
Cutting back short after flowering to improve ventilation lets it grow again and flower again in autumn.
There are no particular pests or diseases, but aphids, spider mites and armyworms may infest it.

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