Hi Mehitabel!

The young growth is a lighter yellowish/green compared to the older growth.
I snapped this pic at lunch of a clump that I moved last year and moved additional pieces in the foreground this year.

Are you growing yours in the ground or in a pot?
You might be over watering or they might be yellowish from the cooler temps?

They can be water hogs but only when they're big and have plenty of thirsty leaves.

They're very tough plants though.

-Robert

Hi, Robert. Thanks so much for the quick reply. And for taking the trouble to take a picture for me. That was above and beyond. Thank you!

I think mine are yellower than than the two in front, but it's hard to be sure. There's no dark-green on mine at all, but not sick-yellow yet. They're maybe 6 inches high.

They're in the ground, and seemed to be getting their feet planted, tho not growing fast yet. But yesterday I noticed the yellow cast and it seemed to have increased. But not enough to be sure.

So I'm afraid I might have done for them, but I guess I'll know in about a week or so. You'd think after 50 years of gardening you'd stop making dumb mistakes, wouldn't you? :D

Thanks again for the very-prompt help.

I planted two black and blue the first week in April, they have had snow, another freeze, then 100 degrees and constant wind, mine also were a very light green, and burned, curled leaves. I have never had these before, so I was concerned I might be over watering to make up for the dry winds. They looked horrible, but yesterday I noticed the one that gets less sun is looking much better and even has some black buds on it, the one in full sun is just about to get some buds. They are not the healthiest plants I have ever seen, but they are looking a bit better. Maybe they needed the hotter weather. I have had a lot of plants this spring that are not a healthy dark green, maybe it is the lack of sun and heat. I do tend to over water new plantings, and I usually give them a healthy dose of organic fertilizer when I plant, so I always second guess myself with "too much food, not enough" .
Keep us posted on how yours do. I did lose two of my Greggii, a red and pink, and my agastache to the late freeze. So I have three spots for replacements. Makes me sad when they don't come back...
Deb

It's very useful to hear about yours, Deb. I checked mine out again this everning and the "yellow" is definitely not sick-yellow. I gave them a little bit of ironite hoping that would make them look better :)

Very hot today, and did notice a few crispy edge leaves.

Late frost. Those are heartbreaking. They may come back from the roots, tho. Wait and see before you pull them out. The roots should be able to handle a little frost. They get a couple of nights of 0 or -2, -3 here. I have Salvia greggii Wild Thing, but some greggii are more tender, I know.

That wind you have sounds brutal. Does it blow most of the time?

It sounds as if they need some fertilizer. These plants are heavy feeders. You should notice the very tips of the young leaves getting a darker green in a day or two after feeding them.

Thanks for the tip about being heavy feeders, misss. Very helpful to know what to do and what to look for as the problem is corrected.

Haha. I didn't even think about fertilizer! I haven't been gardening for 50+ years but I'm no newbie either. ;)
I spread Milogranite around the beds in the spring and I guess that does the trick.

Last night I was determined to take down the feeder I finally broke down and bought since I haven't seen any hummers in over a week and put it back up in July until this morning when I saw a small bird coming to it and was thrilled to see a Downy Woodpecker drinking from it so of course now I HAVE to leave it up, right? Laugh.

Glad somebody is liking my efforts! :)

-Robert

Robert, I love Downies. I guess he was drinking from the ant cup? Or maybe after some ants?

In my other house we kept a suet feeder going and the Downy Papa would bring the babies and show them where to eat. I've never seen one in this house, but the trees are much farther away, so harder to see what's happening out there.

I'm glad you're keeping the feeder up. Glad you got it, too. It's not much effort, I can change my two feeders in under 5', and I can't be sure they aren't visiting when I'm not watching even when I don't see them.

Your many hummingbird plants + feeder provide the right environment for nesting as well, so now you have a five-star location for them :)

It'll be interesting to see how many we actually get when the teenagers arrive. I'm not going to wish away the glorious month of June, but eagerly awaiting July as well :)

MissS, thanks again for the tip about fertilizer. It's just as you said, new leaves coming in dark green. Thank you verra much.

Plants are now rich dark green, and have nearly doubled in size in a little more than a week thanks to the fertilizer. Does anyone know if all salvia are heavy feeders? For some reason I always think of them as wanting lean.

I'm a little late. Here are mine:

Harry, that is gorgeous! I certainly hope I get blooms this year.

And the whole garden, what I can glimpse is lovely. Thanks for the pictures

metitabel, I have one finally looking really good, not as good as harryshoes, but blooming and nice and green, and one that has a bloom, it does not get enough sun, but I have feed it, I may need to move it to a sunnier spot next year.

It's a beautiful plant in flower, Deb. Love the black and blue. Have you had any more visits from your hummers?

Pleants are now about knee high, and have buds on them! I'm thrilled. Not sure it's hardy here and was so afraid it wouldn't bloom the first year. Nothing like a little extra fertilizer :)

Hooray! Black and Blue is surprisingly hardy, of course some coarse mulch in the winter will improve your chances. ;)
Mine have been blooming away. Now I just need to wait until July to see some hummers on them!
Oh, we're going to Colorado soon for vacation.
I looked and the four most common hummers to see there are the Broad-tailed, Rufous, Calliope and Black-chinned.
My friend is bringing her feeders so fingers crossed!
No guarantee I'll spot any but I'll be thrilled if I do. :)

-Robert

Thanks for the good advice, Robert.

My fingers are crossed for us all to have dozens of them zipping around in July (just a week now).

Enjoy the vac. Hope you come back to a wonderful surprise.

I planted this saliva 4 years ago and it spreaded through out the flower bed. I was able to transplant a small piece to other parts of my yard without buying anymore plants. I do not water often and when I do, I use miracle grow. This salvia is very beautiful and hardy. This past winter had no effect on it. My only complaint is that the saliva overcrowed and out grew other plants in my beds. Fall is when I thin out the salvia.

Good to know that you can make more plants from pieces, glen4sure. Your plants are very beautiful, look wonderful.

I wish ours would over-winter, but it's too cold here. I have to buy new ones every spring, and they aren't cheap. But they're so beautiful and attract the hummers like crazy.

Beautiful photo, glad2garden. I'm glad to hear the hummers love them. Mine are just starting to bloom, so haven't seen any hummers on them yet.

The garden catalogs say Zone 7, so most likely it won't overwinter here, either. I might try a few pieces in water, see if I can keep them going over the winter. The stems just look like they would root in water.

They form dark tubers that you can dig up and store in the basement or inside like you can do with other tender tubers. :)

-Robert

Here is a link that might be useful: saving Black & Blue tubers

This post was edited by robert1971 on Thu, Jul 3, 14 at 22:30

I have mine growing under the shade of a chaste tree. They grow abundantly well there. I have had them there for at least five years, and the patch grows bigger every year.