Where did you order it from? I saw it in bloom last year in the display gardens at Plant Delights Nursery (zone 7b) and have coveted it ever since. I don't know if it overwintered there or not. I looked for it there this spring but didn't see it, though it's possible I was looking in the wrong place.

)Karen
I work in the garden deparment at Lowe's. Ordered it from
a local wholesaler. I can probably root some cuttings and
send them to you in the fall.I had toured Garden centers
in the Raleigh and Durham area years ago(about 10) they had some varieties of Salvia I could not find locally. The only
name I can remember is Logan Trading Co.Let me know if
you cannot find one.It is in the "Proven Winners" conaiters.
Skagit Gardens list(one the west coast) it is under a patent. It say's Propagation prohibited.
Art

I've been to Logan's but it was a long time ago. There's a nursery south of Raleigh that has tons of salvias, and then Richard D. is close by as well so there are lots of interesting species available here. Wendy's Wish may be out there now if it's coming from Proven Winners, but if I can't find it I'll let you know. It was really stunning in full bloom.

I don't have it, but would like to get it trialled at a number of places, including some gardens in the rust belt.

BTW, I just got 2 of the last 3 Salvia stolonifera from a Washington state nursery, and a plant of S. raymondii var mairanae from a friend, and will try to get both into propagation, both for trialling and distribution to interested nurseries and botanical gardens.

Rich:
I will send you one also with the fall shipment of
S.greggii "Raspberry".Just a update on other things
Here at the botanic gardens they are wanting to improve
the area where the salvia beds are going in(ADA accesable).Because the city is involved it taking some extra steps to pull the Salvia gardens together.I will keep you posted. My S.penstemonoides is going into flower just as we are hitting 105-106 degree's today.
Art

I have grown Wendy's Wish and it is a dream, it takes full sun or part shade and flowers of and on all year round here in the tropics, A delightful sage all round:0))

"Wendy's Wish" did not ship along with "Totally Tempted"
Cuphea so I will make some calls on my lunch brake to find
out if someone in town has it.Talked to the whoesaler and they said no one in town received any that he was aware of.
But I am still going to check.
Art

PlantHaven informs me that Wendy's Wish is still in the patent process, so it should not be "enabled", that is: distributed without authorization.

In case there's still interest, I saw these today at Ito's Nursery here in San Juan Capistrano. There were quite exquisite!

Sandra

I just received 3 from Sweet Nectar Nursery in Washington State. All three look very healthy. They'll get transfered from their smaller pots to bigger ones to develop a bigger root system before planting out.

Westelle:
Thank you
I need to get a order into them. Your plants arrived in good shape (no cold damage). Many people have mentioned buying stuff from sweet nectar nursery. Just need to have my timing right so they don't turn into icecubes on the way.
Art

So funny to see this thread come up this morning. Yesterday I ran into Wendy's Wish at our local Southern States (agricultural supply coop). They had two plants and of course both came home with me. They're already in bud, so I should have flowers soon.

After three weeks nursing a bad computer, I am finally back.

I spoke with Geoff Needham at PlantHaven recently, and was informed that Wendy's Wish was doing splendidly on the west coast. It's nice to see it for sale in North Carolina, too.

Finally, I am seeing growth on my plants, but all nurseries will still be 3 to 4 weeks behind. This means that pickings at festivals will be slim, unless nurseries were really good at overwintering their stock. Given the extended colder than usual temps, a lot of propane and other fuels were consumed to keep their plants viable.

hybredsage: When you place your order you might mention how you want your plants sent.... mine were sent USPS and sat in the package box for at least one day before being discovered. I guess I expected them to be sent UPS... which is delivered to the door. They still were in great shape so who am I to complain.

I asked for mine as early as possible because I MUST put the newbie plants into 1 gals to develop a bigger root system so they can be planted out before it gets hot and still survive.

I was just at Southern States in Carrboro, NC and they have it--large plants, rated for zone 9, per the tag. Gorgeous plant, but I stuck to my shopping list (agastache and joe pye) and didn't bring it home. Difficult to resist-- still on my mind. So, go buy them before I go back!

I observed something interesting a few weeks ago on my Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' plants which are overwintering in a glassed-in porch where it can get very cold but is not allowed to go below freezing. The blooms developed a bright orangish-red border on the lower lip. The rest of the flower remained normal. I was curious if this could be related to its hybrid genetics and might indicate the coloration of one of its parent species.

Any thoughts or similar observations?

Thanks,
Danita

Well, I am prety sure Wendy's Wish is a hybrid of buchananii with a splendens, possibly one of the vanhouttei forms.

Anyone have a report on how this plants stands up to strong winds?

costaricafinca:
My WW has stood up to 40 mph winds without any problems.
How strong a wind are you looking at?
Art

Art, seasonal winds here can be that or higher... Not cold, but strong since we are reasonably near a volcano
I brought back a small piece of this plant when in Canada and it is presently in a pot, since I can't decide where to plant it. It is very healthy and I don't want to lose it. I was even considering just transplanting to a larger pot.

In case anyone was wondering about cold hardiness my Wendy�s Wish is coming back. We had a very cold winter here and I was worried that it was not going to make it. However both of mine are coming back.
Michael

In case anyone was wondering about cold hardiness my Wendy�s Wish is coming back. We had a very cold winter here and I was worried that it was not going to make it. However both of mine are coming back.
Michael

mjaesp, are you in a subtropical part of the USA, like the Carolinas,or a Mediterranean zone, like California?

These sages respond quite differently to more than zone hardiness, and one can't always make reliable assumptions. I thought both S. clinopodioides and S. lineata would die in central North Carolina over the winter, but they both prospered and overwintered at Plant Delights last year.

They are both tuberous, and these are a curious bunch of sages to work with. S. patens always gives me fits in the greenhouse over the winter. I'm convinced that the crowns and tubers of these sages need to be set in very loose, airy media while dormant. S. stolonifera is another tuberous sage that can be troublesome.

I'm awaiting hardiness experiments with S. oxyphora this year. If we're lucky, it will be at least zone 8 hardy.

I checked my Wendy's Wish today - no sings of life yet here in Raleigh. Fortunately, I have several nice rooted cuttings just in case.

My Wendy's Wish stayed green in my greenhouse all winter, and has put out growth over the last two weeks. So did my vanhouttei burgundy form.

Don't give up yet. I brought different pots of identical Salvia greggiis, microphyllas and reglas into the greenhouse at different times, some after light frosts and others after a couple hard freezes as an experiment. The hard freezes definitely set the plants back more than they would have otherwise.

If you pot up plants late autumn, it should definitely be in a fast, airy soil. Really small plants don't do well, and are best left in the propagation media

I just got one. lets see how it does in the so cal sun!

Brent

I just got one of these plants. Does anyone know if I can take clippings of it to root and start more plants for my garden? If I do, will it stop it from blooming? All the stems on mine are blooming right now and I don't want it to stop blooming if I take cuttings. Thanks

If you take cuttings from branches that are flowering the answer is obvious. The other way to look at it is you would be
prunning it for the next blooming cycle (which makes for more flowers later)and a more compact plant.
Taking cuttings from non- flowering branches would be the last option. Leaving the flower branches on would make for a tall plant that would be prone to damage from falling over.
Keep in mind it is a Patented Plant you cannot distribute
it to anyone else plus the proceeds go to a good cause.
Art

We just received on Thursday the news from PlantHaven that the patent, U.S. Plant Patent 21,889, for this plant has been awarded.

We just love this hybrid, and it has preformed well for us through thick and thin. Reports back to us from all over the country concur. It is a solid winner.

Kermit

Thanks hybridsage. I understand those branches would stop flowering. Unfortunately all the branches/stems on mine are flowering right now, so I would have to cut some of them off. I just didn't know if I clipped some, could I put them in water or rooting medium and they would root that way. I would rather have a compact plant so will probably clip them and try to root them. I'm not wanting to distribute them, just wanting to expand them in my garden. Thanks for the help/info.

Hi All! I'm up in northern Illinois and came across this plant at a nursery this spring... bought 3 of them and am happy to grow them as annuals. Took a while to get going, but now they're big, lush, and beautiful. Disappointed that the hummers don't pay any attention to them, but I do grow Salvia guaranitica and they love those!

Here is a link that might be useful: My garden

Mine is doing fairly well, but is in a pot and contending with 90+ temps. I like the performance of S. oxyphora, but it needs to be in a large pot to flower well. If potbound, it will survive, but the blooms are pretty stressed.

Friends at Cabrillo College, which id at altitude 50 feet near Watsonville, tell me that it is blooming well only in a greenhouse. They are cooler than usual along the California coast this year.

Although it's cooled off here now we've had 90+ too, but mine are in the ground. Planning on getting them again next year.

I hope the supply will be good, especially if you are in the northeast. They should be readily available in the western states.

I hope so too... I really like them! I live in northern IL and the nursery where I bought them said they had them last year, I think. I'm going to stop by and tell them to get them again!

Interesting that you say the hummingbirds don't go for this salvia, as the Anna's hummers LOVE this plant. Maybe your Ruby-throats just need some more time to get used the new plant? :)

I've seen hummers on my big plants of Salvia oxyphora. I haven't repotted them, but will soon.

I had my first wendys wish this season and to the person asking about how the do in the wind not that well. I had one stem go down but did not break so I pulled that stem out and it still had roots on it . I just stuck it back in the same pot where it still is and growing nicely. But here the hummers do like and enjoy it. Another issue about It that I like is when we had those 100 degree days and all other plants were wilting bad , wendy just kept right on going. BTW mine is in a pot.

I will attempt to winter it over in my garage which has an in wall heater but I also have thermostat to keep them rather dormant.

Just tried WW this year in a tub and it stayed in flower nicely through the summer. I saw it on sale in New England with a label that claimed it was hardy in zones 5-9 (this sounds wildly overoptimistic to me as regards the colder end of the scale). So I have numerous cuttings taken which hopefully will prosper indoors under lights over the winter.

It is NOT hardy in the UK.......perished at -4C (25F) last year, but cuttings will be fine if frost-free.

I bought six of these at Lowes because the label said "perennial." Since they're being sold in zones 5 and 6, I naturally assumed that meant they would be perennial in zones 5 and 6. Now I'm finding out that they're only perennial in zones 9 and higher. At $3.50 each, they'll have to go back. :-(

I had heard about lowes having these in the northeast but my lowes here in the mid-west doesnt have them. I would buy several if they did have them at that price. Last year I had one in a pot that bloomed all summer and excelled during heat and drought. In the fall I cut it way back mulched heavy and kept it in my garage where there is no light. It is not blooming yet but It will soon and is very healthy.

{{gwi:1243471}}

This is an update to the photo above of which I overwintered in my zone 6 garage.

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{{gwi:1243480}}

Has anyone tried overwintering them as a houseplant in the colder zones? I don't have a garage to winter them in...only a very unheated shed.

If you are in zone 6b, a vestibule or basement window, or enclosed porch might work, with some temporary heat for cold spells. You will need to maintain a minimum temperature of 35 degrees, water sparingly, and monitor for mites.

Do not put it into a window with heating (baseboars, hot air vent) underneath it.

Hm. Well, we don't have a basement. I think the dining room might work. We dont have central heat, we use a wood stove that's in the living room. There's a vent free fireplace in the dining room for backup heat, but it's rarely on.

I just saw WW in a garden center today for the first time marked as an annual. It is pretty late in the season for a pricey annual, but it sounds like cuttings might work. I overwinter tropicals in my basement under fluorescent lights where the temps stay in the 50's. Does this sound like it would work for cuttings? Maybe even the main plant would be happy there. It just has to stay alive, not thrive. I could try some cuttings in a sunny window too. I have done that with coleus okay.

Take the cuttings when the plant starts to put out new growth after the heat lets up. The rooted cuttings need to have their roots fill in the pot before the cold hits. If you pot freshly rooted cuttings up just when the cold hits, you will need the grow lights and probably bottom heat.

Wendy's Wish is one of the first sages to break dormancy in the spring.

I believe the USPTO allows for personal use of a patented plant, to propagate from it to use on your property, even to give a few plants to family or your church. They really draw the line when you try to sell propagated plants.

The last would be especially important if there are many brick and mortar sources in your area.