October 2021 - 25

2021
CAST
made this one stand out was the
sheer size of the flowers - they are
massive! Each spike was between 8
and 10 inches tall; the habit is also
on the larger size, so give this one
some breathing room!
On the purple-blue side of things,
there were several in the color
range, but we thought 'Vibe Ignition
Purple' won best in class with the
finest habit of them all. 'So Cool Pale
Blue' was another color standout
with a light lavender color versus
blue as the name suggests. This one
stood out to our visitors as well; we
observed several people walking
over and looking at the plants,
perhaps because it is a more toneddown
color yet still vibrant.
Red is another color description
often used to describe flower color,
but in reality the blooms are more of
a red tone not actually red. Few flowers
are a true red, 'Royal Bumble' being
one of them. It was a true standout, we
think the dark stems and calyx made
the flowers really stand out against the
competition.
Let's talk bicolors! More specifically
the 'Hot Lips' types. We trialed
Grow
the original, 'Hot Lips', along with
'Amethyst Lips' and 'Cherry Lips' -
the latter two are newer varieties
in the bicolor range. Many in the
industry already know this, but the
flowers on these types are not always
bicolor; these are the chameleons
of the salvia world. 'Hot Lips', for
instance, can be all red or all white
flowers, and sometimes both types
on the same plant. This colorchanging
effect is thought to be a
reaction to temperature, so if you think you
have the wrong variety because it is
solid in color, give it some time and it
will go back to bicolor eventually.
On the newer varieties, these did not
show their bicolor flowers during the
trial while 'Hot Lips' did. We have seen
them before, so it appears the triggers to
produce bicolor flowers are a bit different
for Amethyst and Cherry.
HARDY PERENNIAL SALVIA
Our last category is hardy perennial types. These
are generally hardy throughout most of the U.S.;
they have a rosette, clumping growth habit and
die back in the winter in most places or can
be cut back. Species included in this category
are: nemorosa, pratensis and nemorosa
crosses including x sylvestris.
What surprised us the most about
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this category was all of the varieties
bloomed on time, and they had loads
of flowers. Of course, we did plant
three liners per pot so that helped with
bulking! The Fashionista series is one
that we strongly suggest planting in the fall
for a bulkier habit and better bloom response.
While we did get blooms, they were more sparse
than other series and later to bloom, most likely
because of their pratensis blood.
In the nemorosa world there are so many
varieties, we were going a bit crosseyed,
many looking very similar with a
few standouts. First, we noticed there were several larger
varieties that looked very similar to the old standby, 'May
Night', albeit easier to propagate with a better bloom count.
These included 'April Night', 'Blue By You' and 'Spring King'.
On the compact side of things, there are several varieties
10 inches or shorter; our personal preference is to stay
'Marvel Blue'
'Marvel Rose'
around 10 inches and not much shorter, as the very compact
varieties were not as showy. Right at 10 inches tall, our
GREENHOUSE PRODUCT NEWS 25
'Apex Blue'
'Apex Pink'
'Apex White'
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October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2021
