Salvia corrugata

Salvia corrugata shows intense blue flowers as the growing season comes to an end. Surviving a few degrees of frost but gradually the cold and wet of an Edinburgh winter will rob it of the will to live. I noticed the plants survived – 3.5°C unscathed, but a subsequent drop to -6°C blackened the foliage and darkened the colour of the flowers. Native to high altitude South America, for an interesting story on how the progeny from a few seeds of the original introduction came to populate gardens in Britain read Betsy Clebsch account in The New Book of Salvias.

Semi ripe cuttings were taken in late September and have now rooted successfully. Take 100 – 125mm long shoots, remove any flower initials. Use a sharp knife to make a clean cut at the leaf nodes. Place in an open cuttings compost and water well. Don’t be tempted to pull the shoots from the compost to see if rooting has occurred. This disturbs the process and slows down rooting. Occasionally lift the pot or seed cuttings tray and you will see signs of white roots protruding through the base – success.

Salvia corrugata cuttings

Salvia corrugata rooted cuttings