It thrives on heat, and should go into green growth soon, My stock plant is sending out good shoots now. Once it gets to a mature size, it should be in constant bloom, with a few rest breaks.

That is what I was hoping to hear. The photos posted of the one in California told me this one was worth waiting for.

My Salvia mellisdora is making a slow recovery from
last years drought. I has not started blooming yet and
the plant got 4'high it is now 2 1/2 feet after some rain.
Art

My Melissadora did not bloom last year (2nd year) till october. It was green through the drought and the heat but it did not bloom till practically freezing. A couple of species of salvia did not bloom because of the heat and drought. Involcrata and madrensis. I do not give a lot of extra moisture. The Melisadora got none. This year I have been making cuttings to root and only one has successfully rooted. I think the first batch, I took to early . My observation is that some salvias do not like to root if the weather is still a little cool. Just an observation. Gregiis are not picky but hotlips and melissadora are. My chiquitas are real picky too. I will try again. They are rotting very quickly so I am doing the next batch without rooting hormone.

There is some disagreement amongst botanists as to the correct name of Salvia melissodora. I had S. melissodora and S. keerlii, and was told that my melissodora was just a form of keerlii. To my eyes they looked like different species. Melissodora seeds came from Australia, and the keerlii plant came from Christine Yeo's nursery. Melissodora never performed well here, but keerlii is stunning in mid-Autumn.

Maybe it is lack of heat as Richard mentioned. I was very pleased with how easy it was to winter over on the cold porch. It suffered no decline like some other sages I could mention and required very little water unlike my old pot-bound miniata mother plant. It even bloomed a little after the New Year. I will stay tuned concerning the plant's real name.