I checked Bluestone Perennials - they list a Salvia 'Blue Queen' but the foliage doesn't match what you posted above. Hopefully someone else will chime in with a more specific ID.

Yes, that's what I found when I googled Salvia 'Blue Queen.' The leaves are quite different. I looked for Salvias with soft felt leaves of this shape but no luck so far.

The only salvia I know with felty gray leaves is Salvia argentea, and that doesn't look like it. Those leaves look like rose campion(Lychnis coronaria) or lamb's ears.
Remy

Rose campion maybe?

Karen

Perhaps this is rose campion. I seem to remember reading a post recently of someone who (Not sure, but perhaps it was Token.) had the same experience as you in thinking those seeds were S. Blue Queen but turned out looking just like your plants. Anyone else remember reading a post like this???

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose campion rosette - 3rd photo on page

I've got rose campion growing from seed I WS and the foliage isn't as wrinkled as the photo Pam posted above. Either I need to look closer at what's growing behind my garage or this isn't rose campion. If the humidity ever drops below ICKY, STICKY, YUCK in the next day or so, I'll have a closer look at the rose campion foliage on the plants I grew from WS seeds and let you know if we have a match.

It's rose campion; the flowers could be white, magenta, or white with a pink eye--all very pretty. After it's first heavy bloom set the plants get played out and even a bit ratty, so give it a good hard pruning, a light dose of plant food and it will usually rebloom.

In my garden this plant is semi-evergreen in the winter, and by the end of winter it looks AWFUL. I just bend down and with my fingers rake out all the winter-killed leaves--you may lose 3/4 of the leaf clump, but with warming weather it grows a nice clump of leaves and usually by mid spring to late spring it's begun blooming and it blooms into early summer and after that you have to hard prune it.

And, it can reseed, in my garden it's not invasive, and any seedlings you don't want are easy to ID and simply pull out of the ground with a slight tug--they are shallow rooted.

One other thing, this plant hates wet feet in winter, so site it where the soil drains well. It can take part shade or all the sun you want to give it.

T

Thank you all so much. I've been puzzling over this one for weeks. I planted it on berms that NEVER get wet but do get lots of sun and some wind. I WS the seeds in 2010 so wasn't surprised when it didn't bloom (although I hoped it would so I could figure out what it is).

I looked it up on Floridata: "Rose campion tolerates dry soils and droughty conditions, but performs best with supplemental watering during dry spells." That describes the growing conditions - hot and droughty. It's a perfect plant for the place it lives. I hope it reseeds!

Thank you!

BTW: the link stillwelljill posted goes to the "clay and limestone" blog. It's a very funny but good garden blog - on Horticulture's top 50 list.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm burned up and burned out from the heat. Reading a good blog helps pass the time when I can't get out to tend to my toasted perennials - like WS helps us get through the cold bleak days of winter.

We're roasting here too- temps in the 90s, lots of rain with high humidity. Heat index has been over 100 many days. Lows at night are running in the 70s. It's 76° now with 80% humidity at 5:30 a.m.

We're supposed to get relief from the heat this week with highs in the mid 80s with a 40% chance of rain every day. I don't know that I ever remember a summer that was this wet. But even with all this rain my plants wilt at these temps.

But it still beats those winter months when we had several feet of snow and couldn't open the doors...

Karen

Pam - I'm right there with you. I go out and try to work on my garden but within a few minutes I'm toast. I tie a wet bandana around my neck but even that doesn't keep me from wilting even in the shade. You know it's going to be awful out there when it's 80 degrees at 5 a.m. We got nearly an inch of rain from a t-storm yesterday so at least I don't have to worry about watering anything.

I did manage to spread a few feet of mulch yesterday but by the time I was finished, my clothes were dripping wet from the humidity.

Thanks for the blog info. I'll be sure & check it out since today is starting out to be a repeat of yesterday.

I live about 100 miles down the road from Karen and it's hot here too. The past few days have been 95 in the shade. For fun we've been taking the probe thermometer around and seeing how hot it is in other areas.

110 on the porch. 116 - 118 on the gravel driveway. 130 in the garage.

95 in the shade with a light breeze actually feels quite mild after watering the plants that line the driveway!

The plants in the flower garden are doing surprisingly well. We've been getting a bit of rain once a week and they've got some good deep roots, and get dappled shade on and off through the day from the nearby trees.

And HOORAY! We've got the radar on and there is a small rain cell almost on top of us. I'm going to go sit outside and watch it come over the ridgeline. It's coming from the direction where we can first see it on the ridge, then it starts raining on our neighbor's yard across the street, and finally it crosses my garden row by row until it gets to the house and starts filling rain barrels. It's only a tiny cell, but the plants are all reaching up their leaves waiting for it.

Lynda

I think the quality of life was better before I had the laptop and weather radar as my home page!

Seriously tho, you watch storms for hours as they slowly move toward you, as anticipation builds. Suddenly, the storm hangs a right (N> or a left (S) when it is just a few miles away. Or it rains itself out and vanishes without a trace. Arghh.

Between record breaking temps and severe drought, this summer is one for the books. I'm relieved that I don't farm and grow corn for a living - the corn really is toast.

In addition to being kind and helpful, folks who hang out in the WS forum are optimists. Many of us are making seed lists, trade lists, and plans for the coming year. I'm giving serious thought to a little late summer sowing and a cold frame, in addition to traditional WS. Probably need my head examined but that's another issue ...

And still, despite the drought, hollyhocks are blooming from WS seed, the gloriosa daisies are putting on a colorful display, hydrangea in pink, purple, blue & white light up the landscape. Tall phlox are blooming so pretty along side balloon flower, stokesia & coneflower. The daylilies don't even wilt when it's 95 degrees and bone dry. Plants are tougher than we are.

I got out my step ladder, climbed up and tied my grape tomato plant to the 6 ft. bamboo stake that's attached to the 6 ft. bamboo stake that goes into the container it's growing in.

This isn't an ideal summer but it's the only summer we'll get in 2010 and the plants are doing what they're programmed to do, rain or shine, windy, calm, humid or parched. When the time comes I'll drag out the stepladder and climb up to pick the tomatoes growing far above my head. I hope I remember to give thanks they're growing, providing food for me and others less fortunate.

Ditto on the "probably need my head examined" comment.