When to plant salvia in open ground in spring. A capricious plant requires special care

Salvia is a whole genus of herbaceous perennials belonging to the Lamiaceae family. One of the varieties, called sparkling or brilliant, has long occupied a place of honor in front gardens. Detailed description, beautiful photographs of flowers will represent them in the best possible way. And advice on sowing, growing seedlings and further care This whimsical plant will help you to finally confirm your desire to have a beautiful salvia in your own area.

Description of Salvia shiny

Salvia is not particularly demanding on the composition of the soil, but still heavy soils It is recommended to loosen with sand.

Advice. It is not recommended to heavily fertilize the area where salvia will be planted with humus. In this case it will develop well root system, and there will be few flowers.

Since the plants are planted already quite large, holes of a suitable size should be prepared for planting. The required interval is 20-30 cm. The dug holes are well filled with water, and the salvia is transferred into the resulting dirt along with a lump of soil from the pot. With this method of planting, the plant is not injured, quickly grows and begins to bloom.

Salvia flowers of different shades

Caring for sparkling salvia is quite standard:

watering as needed;
regular loosening of the soil, removal of weeds;
fertilizing several times during the season with complex mineral fertilizer.

Salvia practically does not bloom in shade. Therefore, it needs to be planted away from tall plants.

Advice. A flower bed consisting only of shiny salvias of one or several colors will look very beautiful. Also, this plant looks great in the background in border plantings next to low-growing marigolds and annual phlox.

Popular varieties and varieties of salvia brillianti

The brightest is the red variety. Its red flowers look especially beautiful in autumn period. Popular varieties with red flowers: Salvator, Red Arrows, Fire Star, Sahara. The white one is distinguished by an inflorescence of lower density. Her flowers are cream. Purple variety - dark flowers have a velvety appearance, making them look very catchy. Shiny salvia with a pink color - the corolla of the flowers is also velvety, thanks to the dense pubescence. The inflorescence density is average between the white and red varieties.

Salvia in our latitudes is better known as sage. There are quite a few varieties of this plant, but each of them has unique properties. Ancient people called salvia a flower that prolongs life and bestows knowledge, and today sage can become a wonderful decoration for any garden, even if this garden is laid out on the windowsill of a city apartment.

Salvia is a perennial plant, and this name covers many families and species native to all temperate and subtropical regions except Australia. It got its name from the Latin word “salvus”, which literally means “to be healthy”. Indeed, many of the famous types of salvia have been actively used in folk medicine and shamanism since ancient times.

Speaking of shamanism. There is one variety of salvia that was used (and in some countries is still used) by shamans to enter a state of trance and obtain visions. Salvia Divinorum is prohibited for cultivation in many countries, including Russia, because it can cause visual and auditory hallucinations. In this article we will talk about growing salvia for medicinal and decorative purposes.

Good to know: Medicinal varieties of this plant are called sage, and decorative varieties are called salvia.

In terms of versatility of use and effectiveness of treatment, salvia can only be compared with aloe - this plant can relieve many diseases. For example, a decoction of salvia allows you to quickly and painlessly eliminate the first signs of flux, relieve pain and the development of the disease. There are more than 900 plant species in total, but each of them prefers light sunny areas, so choose an unshaded place for planting in advance.

Salvia is a rhizome perennial, however, despite this, in Russia it is very often grown as a one- or two-year-old plant. It can easily overwinter under a thick layer of snow in the garden, but in a winter with little snow it will freeze. As for planting salvia at home, you don’t have to worry about this issue. The plant has erect or ascending stems on four sides, the maximum height of which is 120 cm. Green pinnately dissected or whole leaves have a whitish tint on the back side. During the flowering period, spike-shaped or paniculate (depending on the variety) inflorescences up to 20 cm in length appear at the tips of the stems. The bracts are painted in bright colors, for which the decorative qualities of the plant are valued. 25-30 days after the start of flowering, the seeds ripen in the form of 4 nuts, after which they can be collected and stored in a dark, dry place for up to 5 years.

Salvia varieties

Depending on agrotechnical characteristics and biological features Three groups of salvia varieties can be distinguished: American subtropical, Mediterranean and frost-resistant species.

Subtropical varieties in middle lane grown as annuals because they are not able to survive the local winter:

Mediterranean types of salvia are more resistant to local frosts, but only if there is a snowy winter or prior insulation. They are less whimsical compared to tropical representatives and are better able to tolerate drought and insufficient soil fertilization, and “love” various mineral fertilizers.

The group of Mediterranean salvia varieties includes:

Frost-resistant varieties of salvia mainly grow in warm-temperate climates, but Ethiopian salvia can also be included in this group. These plants are distinguished by abundant flowering, which begins only in the second year after planting in open ground. They are perfect for growing in the Russian climate.

Types of frost-resistant salvia:

How to grow salvia

Growing salvia from seeds is important for one- and two-year-old varieties. Perennials can reproduce both by seeds and vegetatively - by cuttings or dividing bushes. As for the seed method, it can be grown with or without seedlings. In the second case, it is important to know when to sow salvia. In order for it to adapt and germinate on time, it is best to plant seeds in the ground in early spring or before the onset of winter, however, these instructions do not apply to all varieties. For example, sparkling salvia can only reproduce seedling method.

Useful information: You can find both seeds and granules in gardening stores. In addition to the seed itself, the granules contain organic components that increase the growth capacity and endurance of young plants. It should be taken into account that granules germinate more slowly than regular seeds.

Salvia seedlings

If you are going to grow salvia in seedlings, set aside time for this from mid-February to early March. The soil for planting seeds should be loose and moist with a temperature of up to 25C. Sprinkle the seeds thin layer soil and cover the tray with cling film or a plastic bag to create a greenhouse effect and prevent rapid evaporation of moisture.

Sprinkle the soil a little from time to time warm water from a spray bottle and cover again with film. The first shoots will appear in 2-4 weeks. After several true leaves appear, the film can be removed and diving can be done. In order for the plants to develop a sufficiently strong root system, this must be done twice. The first dive is carried out when 2-4 true leaves have appeared. Plants are planted in pots at a distance of 5 cm from each other. In this case, the cotyledon leaves need to be buried in the soil. The second dive can be done 20-25 days after the first, planting the salvia in separate pots with a diameter of 10-12 cm.

After the development of 4 and 5 true leaves, the sprouts must be pinched to stimulate tillering. With the onset of April, it’s time to start hardening the seedlings, lowering the temperature at night to +10C.

Planting in open ground

As mentioned above, salvia grows well in light sandy soils, but ideally they should contain lime and humus. The plant needs to be provided good drainage so that moisture does not stagnate at the roots and does not provoke putrefactive processes. It is best to plant it in a well-lit area, free from other plants. All types of salvia, with the exception of sticky, can only develop in the sun. The sticky one also feels comfortable in partial shade.

You can plant seedlings in early June, when the night frosts have passed. Planting and caring for salvia is, by and large, no different from working with other garden plants– it needs to be watered as the soil dries out, periodically weed and loosen the soil so that it is saturated with oxygen. For feeding, use universal mineral fertilizers, applying them as needed (usually 2-4 times during the summer). Be sure to feed salvia immediately after planting in open ground and after the buds appear, because Flowering takes a lot of energy from the plant. It is better to water salvia in the evening and not too much so that the water does not stagnate at the roots.

Perennial salvia is a little more hassle than one- and two-year-olds, since it needs to be periodically pruned to form neat bushes. Pruning also promotes lush tillering, preventing the shoots from stretching. When the perennial variety finally fades, it is necessary to remove the remaining fading flowers and perform a “haircut” session before winter dormancy or early spring, when the plant has not yet “woke up”. At the same time, remove woody shoots so as to leave only young areas with buds.

Most types of salvia bloom from mid-June until the first frost, but some varieties manage to bloom twice during the season. So, if after flowering you completely cut off the Forest Salvia, and then add mineral fertilizer, at the end of summer it will bloom again. Once flowering is complete, prune and mulch the plantings with garden compost to create comfortable conditions for wintering. If the salvia is young, it is recommended to additionally cover it with fallen leaves or spruce branches.

Salvia diseases and pests

Now you know how to grow salvia, and all that remains is to say a few words about its possible diseases and pests. This plant gets sick so rarely that many never encounter such problems in their entire cultivation practice. Pests attack it more often. Usually this is a garden aphid, which, if it appears on the site, indiscriminately affects everything, whiteflies or mites. Salvia can also be damaged by snails and slugs. And while insects can be controlled with insecticides, snails and slugs will have to be caught manually.

Helpful advice: Make a trap for snails and slugs by placing containers of beer or fruit juice around the area - the sweetish smell of fermentation will attract pests like a magnet, and they will lose interest in the leaves of the plants.

Finally, we suggest you look interesting video about salvia: