I have it growing in my sandy soil in the back of the garden so if it decides to take over it won't matter. I don't water it much though lately we've been getting a bit of rain.

I read somewhere that "wet conditions" was a misnomer. Mine grows very well in well drained sandy loam soil. The bed it is in does gets extra water if we're in a summer dry period. The problem with my advice is that Fresno and southern New Jersey are basically on different planets. Uliginosa doesn't seem to me to be a semi-desert plant per say. The leaves don't appear to have any protection from excessive transpiration. It goes absolutely nutz in our hot and humid summers, and can top seven feet. For me the problem isn't whether it will grow, but whether I can handle its exuberance. Hopefully a few of your fellow central valley citizens will chime in with more local information. Good luck.

My grows in kinda clay-ish soil. I've amended the soil a bit but I doubt well enough to call it free draining. The bed does slope somewhat so that probably helps with the drainage. I've had it for four years now and the second summer was very dry and I do remember watering it a lot. I moved it to the other side of the bed two years ago where it got afternoon shade. This past summer I barely watered it but we had had a lot of rain in spring. It seems to do much better in the semi-shade. It's self-seeded around the garden a bit and fortunately its shallow root system made it easy to pull out before it over-ran. Less water probably keeps it in check better.
Cait

I only have two years experience with this one. Last year was the rainiest season on record! It took over my garden. Up until yesterday we were experiencing a much needed drought and it barely survived struggling to bloom just once. So I think the wetter the better by the way I have heavy clay soil with just a very small amount of Pennsylvania field stone. Hope this helps Sarah

I guess I'll move one hunk to the wet area to see how it does.... it's threatening to die anyway.... and I have two others that may already be goners. Thanks for all your answers.

Wardw: You're right NJ and CA are definitly on different "growing" planets. We mostly lived in the Midwest and for a few years CT. When we moved to CA I had to take every gardening class our local Master Gardeners' group offered just so I could sucessfully garden in this drastically different climate.

Westelle, I planted one of those back in June - only part sun; gravelly, thick soil with terrible drainage. In this heat we've been having (with no rain), I put the hose on it for 15 mins., once a week. It's thriving, putting out new leaves and still in bloom.

I hope you can save that beauty! :)

Brenda

Westelle - I lived in the California central coast fog zone for quite a few years. Any success I had there was just dumb luck. Heat wasn't the problem there, it was clouds and cold. Boy could I have used some gardening tips. For one thing I wouldn't have planted a tomato in February and then waited until Christmas to pick a single tastless fruit. Now here I am trying to violate all sorts of rules concerning salvia, like hardiness ratings. You'll have to excuse me now, I've got to go get my head examined.

I grow mine in normal garden soil. I water the garden every day so maybe that keeps it happy? Don't hesitate, it has a diminutive flower yet very lovely.

Joseph

It rained monday and tuesday and made one s.ugliosa very happy

Very nice pic Sarah, such a pretty blue. We need rain down here bad, it dries up too fast.

There must be some other factor with this plant. As I mentioned before it has gone crazy in my home garden, where it has gone for more than a week at times without water. At the New Jersey Audubon garden it was only watered once that I know of, and that an ineffective hand watering by me when the sprinkler wouldn't function. Those plants are also out of their minds with rapid growth and hundreds if not thousands of blooms a day. Obviously those of us who live in hot summer drought areas have a whole different set of problems from those of us with a tropical rain forest summer climate; but at least for me, other than its rampant growth, this plant is trouble free.

Nice picture Sara.
I imagine there are two factors that are needed for this plant to be happy: regular water and a fully developed deep root system. Regular soil here dries out deep down by the end of summer. I think I might try planting it by the hosepipes in the gardens.... they always seem to leak enough to keep the ground around them dampish. I tossed two of the four plants I had. I guess I'll experiment with the other two.

You might be right about the deep root system. The first year I grew one from a rather small 4 inch pot that I bought locally. The year the plant grew maybe four feet tall. This year's plants were in ten inch pots and had all winter to develope strong root systems. After planting they just exploded and never looked back. Lastly, around here, except in the worst droughts, only the top 6 inches or so of soil dries out, so established deep rooted plants just ride out dry periods.

Thanks, Another bloomed, So today there are two in bloom. One other factor Ward you and Helena mentioned sandy soil unlike my extreme clay soil maybe they are like blueberries they like a very acidic sandy wet soil. Sarah

You could be right, some plants like a long and easy root run, which may be impossible in heavy clay soil, especially if the roots are trying to strike deep. Surprisingly for sandy soil, my soil is rather neutral. I haven't checked it in years, but surface doesn't grow moss, so I guess it hasn't changed much. My speculation on transplant pot size was just that, speculation. There must be others out there in our climate with extreme clay who could add to this discussion. This is such a useful plant for both hummingbirds and butterflies, it would be nice to have a workable approach for successfully growing this plant. Well grown uliginosa is an absolute show stopper.