Charm....

[mdehners]

One glorious surprise this Fall was a plant I'd ordered online, a primary hybrid of two Salvias. Neither of which I'd heard of. At 1st I was unimpressed. The blossoms were about a half inch long though an INCREDIBLE Amethyst color. Then it really began blooming! One yr from a 4' pot this Spring and it's 8' tall with sprays of Amethyst blossoms that look a bit like Lilacs from a distance. I took cuttings before our 1st Freeze but so far even the blossoms are shrugging off Freeze damage! I'm hoping I can find the label so as to see if there are any other crosses with these two species. Fall and Winter here are pretty colorless. We do have various forms of Holly but the Beautyberry doesn't last much into December and the usual Winter bloomers like Hellebores don't like it here(they'll grow, but seldom Bloom). There are a number but they're subtropical which means if it's too big to be dragged into a shed or garage it's toast after Freezes. I had the Rosebud Sage but it never survived hard Freezes. Came back though, it just ended up a stunning Pink show until the 1st Hard Frost. Something that at least Blooms until the mid or later of December would be a major win!
Cheers,
Pat