wardda;
Sorry ,I forgot if you are on the west or east coast.
Anyway I take cuttings of chiapensis in the summer when
it is warm. They root in about 5-7 day's. If you have a
way to keep some bottom heat on the cuttings they should
root pretty quickly. I take cuttings of S. greggii,microphylla and woody salvias in the winter.I do
keep them warm.Here in Texas I have to give S.chiapensis
morning sun(4 hours of direct sun) afternoon shade or it bakes in our summer sun.
I also have to protect it in the winter with frost blakets
as I am 1 zone to far north for it to survive winter.
Art

It has made it in Greensboro for me once or twice (USDA Zone 7b), but would probably prefer a humusy soil. It is particularly susceptible to foliar nematodes when weak. It and Indigo Spires are my indicator plants for this pest.

So is that what those black spots on the leaves are? They seem to occur if I forget to water the plant and it begins to wilt. Humusy soil is a useful tip. Isn't it a cloud forest plant?

Leaf necrosis from foliar nematodes is sharply bounded by the larger veins in the leaves, often in a pseudo checkerboard fashion.

They are impossible to get rid of, and used to be controlled collaterally by the nasty, older insecticides. They spread by splattering droplets, from one plant to another during rains or watering.

It sounds like one of those things that must be learned to live with. There enough of those. Despite the leaf damage the plant is thriving. Now that it has adapted itself to living in a cold sunny corner of the back porch, it has begun to set lots of flower buds.

Is the nematode specific to sages, could it endanger other greenhouse plants?

I can't grow this - it's OK outside in summer but never really grows much (too cool and wet), but it's much too tender to survive the winter even under glass - my greenhouse is unheated and although it never goes below freezing inside, S chiapensis never survives, even without bugs and kept bone dry!

I don't have any heated glass but I wonder if it would survive in a cool light room indoors (we have 24hr heat from an Aga but the room that's in is dark - the well-lit rooms are all pretty cool in winter) - is it worth a try?

I have to water chiapensis quite frequently to keep it in good form, almost as much as miniata. Mine is doing quite well in a room where the temperatures can drop to close to freezing - 40 degrees F. Last year it was kept in an area that only received indirect light and was just fine.

I also have found chiapensis needs to be kept moist. As Drusilla says, it is not the easiest of Salvias in the UK climate. However, I apparently have 3 forms...the common one which is summer-flowering, and two winter-flowering forms with completely different foliage, both in bud now, should see the first flowers very soon. These are, here, far superior to the normal form, robust and with woody stems. I do have a heated greenhouse, which is essential for these. I was initially disbelieving that these 2 were chiapensis, until Christian Froissart, who collected seeds of these on a Mexican trip, showed me all 3 forms under a microscope. The flowers are identical, though the infloresences are more congested, and therefore more attractive! But...unfortunately no good for an English garden. Great plant for a conservatory or glasshouse.

Robin.

I've been tempted to lend mine to a friend with an orchid house off her kitchen, except for the nematodes. Of all the sages that come in to the porch in the fall this one seems to be the happiest. I can only guess how fine the better type must look. Next year I think I'll try it in high shade, a place where impatiens are happy. Unfortunately, that means in someone elses yard.

Sounds as though it's worth trying to overwinter it in the spare bedroom - and perhaps not bone dry! As they're promising us a better summer next year maybe I'll acquire one again....

Surprised to hear its touchy for so many. One of my favorite salvias for the garden, incredibly prolific bloomer here for full sun, about a mile from the ocean. Tolerates fairly dry soil too. I'd love to see more hybridizing with it, like 'Waverly.' The clump in bloom this summer:

{{gwi:181619}}

Ohhhhh....I'm green with envy!! Mine never get anything like that size - a dozen flowering stems is doing really well! (I'm a mile from the sea, too, but there all similarities end, I fear!)

DeniseZ:

You mentioned hybridizing with chaipensis, like `Waverly". Is this a speculation from me and Sean O'Hara on the Medit discussion group from a few years ago, or is there a record somewhere that `Waverly' is a cross of leucantha with chiapensis? If the latter, can you get me connected to a source of this information?

Rich, I've read this so often, I didn't realize it was still controversial, but can't point to a definitive record. I'm nothing but an enthusiastic gardener, always on the lookout for a good garden salvia, but mostly leave the details to you experts ;) A web reference yesterday mentioned it will self-sow, something it's never done for me. This big clump was cut back earlier this fall, hoping to encourage an earlier bloom cycle...big mistake. (The clump was at least four years old and had become overly woody.) So the whole clump was removed and fresh cutting started.