Salvia bulleyana is also moderately shade tolerant. Has attractive bicolored yellow-purple flowers but is not exactly very drought tolerant, as tends to be the case with most of the Asian salvias :-)

I have had a long and often painful affair with salvias, gardening mainly in sun. When I got a woodland, salvias were ruefully discarded until a (mistakenly) transplanted s.involucrata did remarkably well, sending me back to my Clebsch for a more careful reading. A seed trove from Mara contained s.roemeriana - Texas Sage also doing well so yep, koyamae has been on my list. I have had to be persuaded a bit, regarding these yellow sages - the familar Jupiter's Distaff, s.glutinosa is a most unattractive specimen while I had a definite predisposition towards those tricky New World salvias with brilliant colours and fragrant leaves - only the many, many labiates in my wood convinced me of the possibilities of shade-y salvias..

Possibly hardiness issues for you, Rouge...but otoh, nothing propagates easier than salvias for indoor cossetting or a tiny bit of fleecy protection..

Possibly hardiness issues for you, Rouge

Maybe Campanula. But if I might say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

On a recent garden tour near the NH/VT border, I saw a yellow sage growing around a tree. I was shocked that it was growing and flowering contendedly in shade. So I would think it will do fine for you, Rouge, unless your soil doesn't suit it. It certainly seems hardy enough.

ROBIN'S SALVIAS is also a good resource on Salvias. They are in England . They also make seeds available near the end of the year. Another person who would come to the salvia forum before.

OOPS Camp, Robin says that S. madrensis needs full sun in England and it gets ready to bloom just in time for your first frost. Nice foliage plant. LOL

on the subject of salvia... why do they turn black? I go to cut them back after blooming and don't know what to cut. The whole thing looks wretched. But they eventually come back. I can't tell whether I like this plant or not. And then there's the smell, which apparently some of us are unable to detect (fortunate for them).

HUH? not my experience. Again I am not i NY and I don't know the salvia species.

I've been growing S. koyame for many years. It spreads quickly, but is easy to control. The large leaves make a handsome mass during the season and the yellow flowers are always a nice surprise come late summer. It's in bloom now.

Ah yes, the annoying tendency to bloom just as frost hits...which is why the entire patens tribe are just a memory - shame though as I had a lovely one with beautifully marked foliage. Mind, I do have exactly the spot for the startlingly blue bog sage - uliginosa, which just withered nastily in the dry sun of the allotment but ought to thrive with the yellow rudbeckias and blue asters along the nicely damp eastern ditch...a place also earmarked for my nascent primula collection.

Black - do you mean the bracts - really noticeable on guaranitica, Amistad, discolour? Once the petals fall, it is usually fine to cut the remaining branches back - certainly encourages blooming...although I am idle and simply leave the stems alone unless I want some propagating material. I did have a similar attitude - swinging wildly between love and hate until settling for the much more reliable (for me) Greggs and Jamensis...while blackcurrant (microphylla) and pineapple (elegans) sage are mainly pure fragrance to my mind.

The sun is so strong here and the shade is thin , so I do grow it under the trees with strong mid morning light for a sliver of time. Otherwise it is dappled shade. BUT during the first freezes, the trees hold the heat in. The S. Madrensis bloomed all winter last year. It was a non winter. I think it got down to 28ºF (-2ºc) once or twice. I have been robbed only on a very few years. Our rains came early this year so the flowers seem to be coming early. Last year, our rains were late and the flowers were late but we lucked out on the extremely light freezes . Those S. patens will not take our heat , lack of water or bad soil. Camp, I am glad to hear that the S. roemeriana is working out for you. They go so nicely with Aquilegia chysantha v. hinkleyana and Hesperis matronal (Dame's Rocket, not invasive where I am). Ajuga repens also blooms at the same time and makes a very colorful display in the shade.

With regard to kitasei's comment about plants turning black,also I find many of my standard garden Salvias do this, turning tattered with withered stems and leaves. I have assumed that they don't like the combination of dry soil and extremely humid air. I don't find it happens with Black and Blue, which wants different (more moist) growing conditions, or with Salvia gregii, which likes it dry and doesn't seem to mind humidity here. I cut back the tattered looking garden Salvias severely and they put out new foliage and occasionally new flowering stems.

Ah. This clears up my confusion about salvia. The varieties are so distinct in the conditions they want! Hard to know where to site the garden type if they want damp feet and dry air...

IME they are fairly tolerant of medium dry, but aren't fond of dust dry like much of this summer for the NE US. I don't think they ever are truly fond of the saturated air that many plants seem to ignore.

Another vote for Flowers by the Sea nursery. I love how they have their database organized so you can search by color or zone. Try them, even call them.

all my salvias grow in less than full sun b/c I ran out of real estate, I've yet to lose one b/c if shade.

But shade in texas is different from it up north. Salvia behavior really changes with the zones and humidity. I would not even dare to grow Japanese or most chinese salvias, because many of them come from their moist mountains. On the other hand, I like african , turkish and northern Mexican salvias.

UPDATE (2017):

Just picked up a pot of the Salvia in question.

salvia stolonifera is a new one for me this year...plus several sun lovers including spathaceae, involucrata and macrophylla 'Purple Leaf (courtesy of Robin's salvias).

The large leaves make a handsome mass during the season and the yellow flowers are always a nice surprise come late summer. It's in bloom now.

Update:

I divided the above plant into 2 and both 'pieces' have thrived all season in this wet cool spring and summer.

The leaves are huge but I see no sign of any flower (buds).

(What you see here is just half of the container plant purchased in late May)

Some of the salvias really have massive leaves. I have s.pratensis growing in my wood with enormous, foot long leaves. It was new to me this year...and a complete star. Also growing s.forsskaolii - should flower next year. Aka as wood sage, I think this should be good in dry shade. The stolonifera I sowed this year has made good growth but not flowering yet and I also have another couple but the dog stole the labels (again) so I am clueless what they are.

Great big leaves, healthy and vigorous, but still no sign of any flower buds. I can easily see frost bringing it down before it blooms. (I am hoping this is mostly because this is its first season in the ground, planted in late May).

Anyone else have an in flower Salvia koyamae for this season? Any pics you could share?

My S. koyamae has been in bloom for weeks, so I think yours should be too, Rouge. Give it another year. BTW, it really needs a large area to look its best. You'll never be able to keep it very small--the way it is in the pic.

Thanks 'lacey'. The clump you see above is already over 3 feet across! This salvia is clearly a bit of a 'spreader'. Is it (relatively) easy to keep it in check?

Just noticed a teeny sprig of flowers today...a hint of much more to come next season I hope.

Perhaps in the long run this is one plant that would be appropriate on the other side of the fence in the weedy area?

...in the weedy area?

Hey, only I can use such a phrase for "my" garden :).

NHBabs, it is so insightful of you to think of such an option....you are very 'with it'.

I have two clumps of this salvia. I will leave both as is with winter soon approaching but it is such a good idea...I will move one patch next spring.

"Weedy" was inspired by the previous discussion of buckthorn. I guess your term "wild" might have been more tactful, but I consider invasives to be weeds. ;>)

The Salvia seems so dense and such an enthusiastic grower, it seems perfect to help reduce the invasives in that spot.

I was joking 'Babs'! You are completely correct...it is weedy and worse.