'Mystic Spires' is outstanding in both containers and in ground! Combine it with glorious two tone yellow 'Bees Knees' petunia and pink zinnias, or the other way around, pink petunias and yellow zinnias, awesome! :) Ohhh, and these plants are easy to keep over the winter, I left the pot in my well insulated unheated attached garage, gets about 15 F in there, the pot was tucked against the warm wall of the house and piled over thickly with old blankets, the salvia survived without problem and vigorously sprouted from the base to supply a bounty of stocky cuttings, these easily take root in water.

I usually take cuttings of the Mystic Spires from a mother plant I bring inside, but last year I got an infestation of whiteflies from some potted herbs I bought at the grocery store in the late winter, and I had to sacrifice the plant. Fortunately I was able to source the the MS locally this spring. I have overwintered them potted in unheated garage at my other house but have not had success here. Cuttings are easy enough. I did want to try the Big Blue from seed and so I did, but BB just cannot compare to MS in my book.

I also started Big Blue from seed this year in mid March, and I’m only just now seeing the first flower buds emerging on the two I have in containers, so like you, I’m pretty underwhelmed.

On the other hand, I’m very impressed with ”Unplugged So Blue”, another S. farinacea x longispicata hybrid I purchased in 4” pots. Those have been remarkably vigorous and floriferous in containers for me (and a bit more compact and manageable than ”Rockin’ Playing the Blues’), and I’m thinking I’m digging them even more than “Mystic Spires”!

Yes, the Big Blue were very slow to bud up, even though I set out beefy seedlings. Look at that grouping of four plants in the ground -- where's the flowers, it's July!! BAH!

I haven't yet seen the "Unplugged So Blue" -- I'll have to pick one up if it's ever available locally.

Are these salvias similar to Black and Blue species-wise? I have always passed these by becuase the cost of them as an annual was VERY high in my area, nearly the same as perennials. This year I found them for a good price and have four Black and Blue in containers that will over winter in the garage or house. Black and Blue was the one I heard about in the past, so I was surprised to read about all the newer varieties that are supposed to do well. Any info on what these are like compared to Black and Blue? My Black and Blues are just now flowering, but we have had very very very few days with sun, so this is not a good year for me to judge any salvias.

(Also, Black and Bloom is supposed to be an amazing new introduction, but all new introductions are touted to be amazing, aren’t they?!)

@sah67 (zone 5b - NY), thank you so much for that excellent information! I have always wondered the differences and your post will be so helpful to me going forward.

@mxk3 z5b_MI, looking great, I’ll definitely be keeping Mystic Spires in mind for next year!!

I've grown "Black and Blue" for a long time, but the last handful of years they just didn't grow as vigorously nor were they as floriferous as way back when they were first introduced (locally available). IDK if it's something in the production methods or cloning from a bum crop or what, but they have been disappointing.

I picked up two "Black and Bloom" this spring -- I saw them and was wowed! They were tall and lush in their 4" containers with a nice amount of bloom. I like the color of "Black and Blue" better -- the "Black and Bloom" is a redder purple compared to the "Black and Blue", but I'm a fussbudget when it comes to color and probably no one else would split hairs over this.

Here's "Black and Bloom" in a large planter, underplanted with some petunias:

Look at how lush she is! The buds are dark and hard to capture on my phone (not the greatest camera...).

You can't see from these pics, but there is a "Black and Blue" planted in the ground diagonal and behind that clump of daisies in the second pic. Puny in comparison to the "Black and Bloom". I'm a convert.

Here's "Unplugged So Blue" in one of my containers, as a point of comparison to 'Mystic Spires' and 'Big Blue.' This is two individual plants, with 6-8 inflorescences on each at the moment, and more constantly coming!

Nothing to add earth shattering here but IMO MS is one of the great annuals. Love this plant.

Many of these mentioned are all new varieties and I don't know much about them. I do want to mention that there are cultivares that blossom more in the Fall and this may be why you're not getting the bloom expected.

RE: "Unplugged Blue": Wow!!

CA Kate: We grow these as annuals in colder climates -- if they can't strut their stuff in full glory for the 3-4 months that is our "season", if you will, they're useless as annuals.

Here's "Unplugged So Blue" in one of my containers,

Funny you mention this @sah67 (zone 5b - NY) as this is my first year having used "Unplugged so Blue" and I do like its small stature in a container. Here is ours:

Rouge: glad to see you’re on the same page combining it with the Lantana! Great minds think alike and all 😁

Wow, now that's a knockout color combo, Rouge!

Thanks @mxk3 z5b_MI...as is often the case for my containers, it's a bit hit and miss.

Rouge, will look for that one next year, the foliage is nice as well. Remember, these shouldn't be too difficult to overwinter as I had with 'Mystic Spires', just keep slightly above freezing and take cuttings in March or early April.

Seed sown salvia farinacea 'Fairy Queen' had performed very nicely in ground, well up until the first rainy cooler blustery days of early autumn, then it showed a wimpy side with broken stems and foliage issues. I have several 'Mystic Spires' among the planting beds, will be interesting how these hold to seasons end.

I saw this border of "Unplugged So Blue" just yesterday at a relative's garden. The angle of the picture doesn't do it justice. Every plant looked picture perfect healthy, and a Goldilocks height for these plants given the location of this border.

(This season I had a singleton in a container but I am going to find a way to get more of this salvia into our garden next season.)

Salvia "Black and Bloom" is a great flowering sage which has returned for me for several seasons in central Kentucky (zone 6b).

Numerous Salvia hybrid/cultivar introductions are a lot hardier than they're touted to be, so with adequate winter protection they're perennials, not just annuals. Salvia "Rockin Fuchsia" is only supposed to survive in zone 9 and frost-free areas, but I had a plant endure a couple of subzero lows this past winter and it's now a 2 x 2.5 ft. flowering machine. "Amistad" (a terrific purple-flowered Salvia with dark calyces) is also much more winter cold-tolerant than advertised.

https://rustyblackhaw.substack.com/p/why-should-a-man-die-while-sage-grows

I will join the priase of Mystic Spires Blue. In my area, it is rather a perennial and get huge. In spring I devided one plant to three, and following is one plant

It gets 4x5, completely blocks a rose Sheila’s Perfume and pushes another one Summer Romance to the side. So the idea of rose companion fails because MSB makes the statement itself. Since blooming in May it has not been out of bloom for single day

Walking by a hotel garden while on vacation I spied this mass planting of salvia....these plants were a good 6 feet tall. I was able to speak with the gardener and he said they are a Proven Winners variety (he thought "Black and Blue") that he planted a few years back. He said that they are extra large as they have (mostly) been able to survive the "winter" (Victoria BC). He wants to remove them (most of them) but the hotel guests rave about the hummingbirds they see while walking by!

^^ That is a spectacular planting of salvia! I can attest to the hummingbirds -- they visit my "Black and Bloom" and "Black and Blue" salvia several times a day.

Hey @mxk3 z5b_MI, can you compare your experiences with "Black and Bloom" vs "Black and Blue" (know that @rusty_blackhaw likes "B&Bloom")

"Hey @mxk3 z5b_MI, can you compare your experiences with "Black and Bloom" vs "Black and Blue" "

As I mentioned above, I have been sorely disappointed in the "Blue" the last few years or so. They just haven't been as vigorous or as floriferous as they were back when they first hit the market in my area. I'm convinced there's something in the production methods but really I don't know why.

The "Bloom" is a larger plant than the "Blue" (the "Blue" as it is now, not as it used to be), both taller and wider. The flowers are a reddish-purple, whereas the flowers on the "Blue" are a bluish-purple. One edge that the "Blue" has is is doesn't get bare ankles like the "Bloom" does. BUT -- this is my first year with the "Bloom", I started with a 4" potted plant that already was a little bare down there, so that could have something to do with it. I'm growing cuttings next year, so if its ankles stay clothed in foliage, then it had to do with the plant I started with.

I have one "Blue" plant this year. I started with two, which I bought before I went to the nursery that had the "Bloom". One of them was cr*ppy and I took it out, but the other seems quite happy in the part-shade spot on the edge of a dripline of a large maple tree. Go figure. It's not getting a whole lot of flowers, probably because it's not full sun, but the growth habit is full and attractive and it looks nice in that spot. I think I'm going to take cuttings of this one, it's a decent specimen compared to the stock that's been available lately.

Speaking of cuttings, I took cuttings of "Bloom" and "Mystic Spires", and heliotrope, and I couldn't believe when I saw roots on teh "Bloom" after 1 week - 1 week!! I checked again today and still no visible roots on the others, but there was resistance on the tug test so they must be doing their thing down there.

I’m late to the hybrid salvia game, at least the ones that aren’t winter-hardy in my area, but one thing I like about Black and Blue is the foliage. It’s almost leaning towards lime. I didn’t expect that. This is four plants in two pots.

Just occurred to me it could be a disease.

(sigh)

Here is "Rhythm and Blues" (in a pot with a potato vine).

I have May Night and Friesland. They are both good bloomers and the bees love them. However, they split open badly. I am always trying to support them. Do these new hybrids stand erect or do they eventually flop?

debra

Also wondering if they flop because they need dividing…..

debra

djacob -- this thread relates to "annual" salvias (tender perennials that will not over-winter in the ground in cold climates).

Ooooh, so sorry! Guess I didn’t catch that! 😉

debra

I know that the usual route to overwinter these plants is to take cuttings.

But I am curious if one can save such salvias as I do geraniums i.e. bareroot in a box (after cutting it back lots) and replanting it in March, indoors?

I’m very impressed with ”Unplugged So Blue”, another S. farinacea x longispicata hybrid I purchased in 4” pots. Those have been remarkably vigorous and floriferous in containers for me

@sah67 (zone 5b - NY), this plant is such a keeper! It has looked good for over three months in a pot. Here it is as of a couple of days ago (October 14).

As I had mentioned previously in this thread I plan to do a border planting of it (in the ground) next year,

I had cut back 'Mystic Spires' and tucked the potted plant against the warm wall of my attached garage and piled heavily over with old blankets, it came through just fine and vigorously sprouted from the base. Soon will dig up and cram together a half dozen in one pot and this time just toss them into the cold storage room. Here's some currently flowering away, they're big tall tough things!

I bought 2 Black and Blue last year. After reading that it was very vigorous and would take over a bed, I planted at end of my perennial bed which we can easily expand if need to. That did not happen. They barely bloomed (except the flowers when I bought them). By last fall they disappeared. What a disappiintment. Now a little plant shows up with a flower spike and I finally confirm it is the original Black and Blue. Maybe it will redeem itself next year

Update 4/2024: I'm going to have to re-evaluate my use of "Black and Bloom" this year. Couple reasons: While it was a large, robust plant, which is just what I wanted for the pot, a bit later in the season it got bare ankles, the underplanting of petunias was bloomed out so taken out, and the bareness on the bottom bugged me. Second, the cuttings are not easy to manage in the house over the winter. They're too vigorous and require constant cutting back or else they want to take over the whole window cart. I just hacked them back again by at least 2/3 this afternoon.

Now, my "Black and Blue" cuttings are doing fantastic. I managed to get nice full plants over the winter with minimal fuss (unlike the "Bloom"). So, if these "Blue" that I grew from cuttings end up growing vigorously once outdoors, I will stick with those instead of the "Bloom" and take the cutting route yearly instead of relying on purchased transplants (reference my above comment about being disappointed in recent years). I like the flower color better anyway. So we'll see.

I had trouble with winter cuttings of "Mystic Spires". The cuttings I took from outdoor plants in the fall rooted quickly, but the cuttings I took from those were a struggle; a lot of them did not take, so I don't have as many "Mystic Spires" and I would like. Oh well. At least the ones I have look good.

Six of six 'Mystic Spires' successfully wintered in the garage, only bringing them in during frigid outbreaks when temps in there fell much below freezing. Soon will take a good deal of cuttings and shall set the original plants out as well.

I'm always on the lookout for floriferous but smaller statured salvias (for containers).

"Unplugged so Blue" is a winner for sure given my experience last season.

I see that the relatively new "Salgoon Series" of salvias are advertised as quite compact. I am just wondering if some of you salvia aficionados have had experience with any of these plants.

https://www.hilverdaflorist.com/assortment/concepts/salvia-salgoon/

I planted mystic spires here in zone 7A a couple summers ago. Bought it at a small farm nearby that never has a great selection. I was amazed at how great it looked. I actually made a post here about it. Unfortunately it didn’t overwinter in the ground. Last year I planted one called azure snow and was unimpressed but it’s coming back. Has any one had luck direct sowing mystic spires seeds ? Also a recommendation on where to get the seeds ?

"Mystic Spires" isn't available from seed, AFAIK. "Big Blue" is. If you want a yearly guaranteed supply of "Mystic", you pretty much have to go the cutting route or buy fresh plants every year.

"Mystic Spires" isn't available from seed; "Big Blue" is. If you want a yearly guaranteed supply of "Mystic", you have to go the cutting route or buy fresh plants every year, or try to overwinter.