My HB's and bees are the same, but someone said that the bees are the reason that most of the seeds aren't viable since the darn bees just drill right thru them! oh well, I've started some new plants by just putting the stems in the dirt and by putting cuttings in water, so hopefully I'll have some new babies for next year and the ones in the yard will come back!!! Great pics by the way!

glo

Those are beautiful close-ups! The bumblebees love the black and blue here too!

Glo is right the bees abort the fertilization because they can only get the nectar by boring a hole down in the calyx. Once they do that the flower can't be fertilized. They will also do the same thing with cupheas.

Penny

Great shots Roberta! Glo and Penny that is interesting about the bees aborting the fertilization. Thanks for posting. Ruth

If I rated my hummer plants after my first season, I think Black and Blue would win most attractive. Its a definite for next year.

What pictures Roberta. I am looking for my B&B to take on new life this fall when the heat breaks. Can't wait for it to cool off a bit and dry out so I can get out and work in my flowers. I have to admitt that they have been on their own for the past month and a half. It has been too hot to even pull the weeds. I don't know what critters I have hidding in those bushes.

Great B & B pics! I am definitely sold on that salvia!

Thanks, all! This B&B is in a pot on my deck and is huge. Unfortunately, this morning I discovered a large piece broken off..I am not sure if it is from its weight or from the critters who visit such as a squirrel or raccoon. There's still plenty left for the hummers and bees. I wish I could get as close to the hummingbirds for photos as I can to the bees!

Speaking of critters, a funny thing happened to me this morning. We use a plastic pitcher to dip bird seed and pour into the feeders. I went to the outside storage room where we keep it, and a mouse was running round and round in the bottom of the pitcher. Eek! I am very chicken when it comes to mice, so I put on long sleeves, my garden gloves, lifted the pitcher and set him free in the yard. Tried to convince my husband to come home from work and take care of it but for some reason he wouldnt.... :)

I had a chance to see the standard guarantica species over the weekend. The plants were some seven feet tall and blooming very well. In the same garden was also a big clump of Argentina Skies - also blooming well. There was no time to check for hummers, I was leading a wildlife garden tour and this garden covers about 10 acres. So who has played with the standard species and Argentina Skies? My own little piece of Argentina's sky has been slow to bloom, only starting in mid August.

Ummm Ward, isn't a wild life garden where you'd find some hummies (jk cuz I couldn't resist)!!! Where do I get the standard species and Argentina Skies. Did a search...now I want one of each of these at least!

glo

Here is a link that might be useful: salvias

Actually a wildlife garden is almost any garden - and some people think a hummingbird garden is altogether too wild. In fact, many folks think male hummingbirds set the wrong kind of example for the young - good fathers they are not.

You might check A World of Salvias for a start. I've seen Argentina Skies for sale at a few sites, so if you do a search you should find it. They have really nice pale blue flowers and their leaves are kind of sandpapery. It will be at least one more year until I know how it will do in my yard, at this point it's more hope than fact.

When the group got to my house they saw all the hummingbirds they could desire. Unfortunately it was cloudy, which kept butterfly activity to a minimum. That was probably a good thing, because I have trouble telling one skipper from another.

I would like to express that for a very special reason I'm really looking for Salvia guaranitica ÂArgentina SkiesÂ. If someone have seeds I'll pay postage or whatever to have some. I'm actually from Argentina and I would like to have something that remind me of my country of origin... :)
Diana

Oh no, I just looked at the link for Crownville! Love those salvias! Ruth

I think Stan has received a cutting of the standard S. Guaranitica but don't know about seeds.

Diana
You may want to check out Rich Dufresne's web site. Occasionally he will sell seeds. His plants are grown under controlled conditions so that the seeds are less apt to cross with another salvia species. Salvias are notorious for cross pollinating with one another and unless they are hand pollinated your chance of getting a plant just like the parent is iffy.

Penny

My poor hubby is just gonna be so thrilled with me! I'm saving seeds from every salvia I can to w/s, but...I'm taking cuttings that I'm going to try and winter over too, (just in case) so the basement is gonna be mine for a while!

glo

I have both S. guaranitica species and Argentine Skies in containers on my deck, plus some that I planted in the ground last year. Although I love the flower color of both, I feel that Black and Blue is a more vigorous plant. I have B and B both in the ground and in containers, and the plants seem larger, the flowers larger and more numerous.

The best B and B are ones I bought at a local farmers market in a one-gallon container for $4 each. I planted them in my garden (hoping the deer might be offended by the salvia scent and stay away), and they are very large, bushy and floriferous (is that a word?)

Regarding agastache, I had a nice plant of 'Firebird' that came back for several years, but died after a wet year followed by two dry ones. I planted several on a slope this year, along with some Tutti Frutti. I'll let you know next year if they come back...

I like that....floriferous!

Diana, the funny thing about Argentina Skies is that it is not from Argentina. Apparently it was discovered as a seedling somewhere in the Philadelphia area. I guess I shouldn't have mentioned that. You must miss your old home at times, there's nothing as sweet as the childhood landscape.

Hummer K8 - You are right, the other two cultivars I saw over the weekend were no way as thick as B&B even though the clumps were many years old. I rather liked their tall rangy look, and their leaves looked a lot better than the B&Bs in my garden. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt? B&B has been in my garden for about a decade, long enough for the novelty to have worn off.

Apart for the name... I think this Salvia("Argentine Skies") is a great piece of conversation... When I have friends come over they actually make the mistake of start asking about my plants... :) They always go back home with a bunch of seeds and advices about how tho grow them...
I miss my country but I live in California(5 miles from the ocean)... What can I say? It's Paradise for me!
Diana

Yes, I love giving plants to friends too. There are usually at least 200 plants waiting out in front the garage for someone to adopt them. One minute I'm depressed thinking they will have to be composted and the next I'm feeling bad because I'm out of one kind or another. My dream would be to have a group of friends working towards the same goal - you do the agastaches and impatiens and I'll take care of the salvias and tomatoes.