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Herbaceous salvias seem to prosper in the borders at the RHS garden, Harlow Car. The climate there is neither warm nor dry and having been impressed by the rivers
of pink and purple flowers that flow through the herbaceous borders there, I was briefly convinced that I might hope for something similar at home. People seem
to adore 'key words' these days, it saves them from wasting time on trivia. To aid their hurried scanning of the text I will mention that key word here
is 'briefly'. Herbaceous Salvia are plants of dry, sunny, prairie conditions. It is not surprising that they hate my garden. Even the thought of growing in a pot in the greenhouse seems to offend their sense of propriety. I saw them at Harlow Car, got a bit dizzy, bought 'Rose Queen' and killed it. Thus passed the summer of 2016. Salvia x sylvestris is a hybrid between S. nemorosa and S. pratensis. The former is a native of central Europe and Western Asia, thriving in dry but well-lit light woodland. The latter extends the range to include scruffy meadows in northern Africa. Both parents attract slugs like expensive wallpaper attracts children with sticky fingers. The hybrid does not appreciate winter wet, the attention of slugs nor planting in Cornwall. Missouri Botanical Garden warn that: "Some cultivars currently listed under S. × sylvestris have uncertain parentage, however, and may actually be cultivars of one of the parents rather than being hybrids. ‘Rose Queen’ features rose-pink flowers on stems rising to 15-24” tall. Sometimes sold under the synonymous name of ‘Rosakoenigin’. " All that John Sutton could tell me was that: "'Rose Queen' is rose-pink with red calyces. It grows to 75cm (30in) high and comes true from seed." Chicago Botanic Garden held a trial of hardy Salvia, their observations on 'Rose Queen' were: "Flower production on ‘Rose Queen’ was never high but had greatly decreased to 10% at peak by the final season. Many seedlings were observed in the plot, and by 1997 about half of the plants in the plot were seedlings of inferior quality to the original plants. Plants began to flop open in late June, and after cutting the stems back, the new growth had filled in by late July. Winter injury, ranging from crown damage to death, was observed in all years except the first and last winters. This was the most significant winter damage observed on the Salvia x sylvestris cultivars. Writing in 'The Garden' in 1993, Nigel Colborn says: "Two lighter hued cultivars are worth noting: 'Rose Queen' has that enviable attribute, pale flowers set in dark calyces, but it failed to win an AGM, perhaps because the flower colour is impure." |
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| 16th July 2016 | ||