Plant of the Month May

Our plant of the month for May is the Salvia.

Salvias, or ornamental Sage as they are more commonly known, are a fantastic addition to any garden. Known for their long flowering periods, they have spikes of tubular shaped flowers that come in a huge range of colours. These beautiful plants are also loved by bees and butterflies.

These versatile plants look great in many areas of your garden. Use them in a mixed herbaceous border or for planting at the front of the border with taller plants behind them. They go well in containers or pots on the patio and we do well in dryer conditions.

There are a few types of categories for Salvia:

Annual Salvia – Grown as summer bedding plants that last the season and then are discarded.

Herbaceous Perennial – Hardy plants that will come back year after year.

Tender Perennials – Will come back year after year but not completely hardy, so may need some Winter protection.

Salvias enjoy a warm sunny spot in your garden, and make sure the soil is well drained, as they will not grow well in waterlogged soil. A good way to protect more tender varieties from frost over Winter is to grow them in pots or containers. These can be moved to a more sheltered, frost free space. The best time to plant Salvia is from April to June, or as long as the frosts have passed.

Recommended Top 3 varieties

Here at Thompson’s we have a great choice of hardy perennial Salvia, with more that 10 varieties to choose from in many interesting colours. You can purchase a selected few from our web shop, but to view our full range we recommend you visit your local branch of Thompson’s. During the Summer months we will also stock annual Salvia.

Salvia nemerosa May night - known for their rich colour of flowers which are an intense indigo blue. It's a hardy, clump forming perennial with tall upright spikes of flowers from May onwards. Flowering period can be prolonged by dead-heading old flowers. They are also valued for the colourful wildlife that they attract to the landscape.

Salvia nemorosa Caradonna - A compact perennial with aromatic grey-green leaves. Glowing purple stems bearing spikes of violet-blue flowers borne from June-October. Growing to a height of 50cm

Salvia Hot Lips - A small evergreen sub shrub with small green aromatic foliage. Produces lots of beautiful white and red flowers in summer through to autumn that look very much like a tiny pair of lips. Our most popular Salvia that we grow!