Salvia patens

Salvia patens subsp. var.	Gentian sage
	Habit: herbaceous Height: ⇕ to Width: ⇔ to 12in24in 12in24in Height: ⇕ 12 in to 24 in Width: ⇔ 12 in to 24 in Lifespan: ⌛ perennial Origin: ✈ Poisonous: ☠ Bloom: ❀ early summer, mid summer, late summer, early fall, mid fall, late fall	Exposure: ☼ part-sun Water: ◍ Features: ✓ flowers Hidden fields, interally pass variables to right place Minimum Temp: ☃ °Fwarning.png"°F" is not a number. USDA Zones: 9 to 11 Sunset Zones: Flower features: ❀ blue, purple
	Lamiaceae > Salvia patens var. ,

Salvia patens (sometimes called Gentian sage) is native to a wide area of central Mexico. It is a herbaceous perennial.

It was introduced to horticulture in 1838 and is now grown widely. It is frequently treated as an annual due to its sensitivity to hard frost, with bedding plants often put out in spring. Varieties have been developed with colors ranging from white to lilac to various shades of blue. Seeds from Holland have been available since the 1990s for rich colored and large flowered varieties. William Robinson praised it in the 1933 edition of The English Flower Garden as one of the best plants in cultivation. A collecting trip to Mexico in 1991 led by James Compton discovered a 1.8 m (6 foot) tall variety with large deep blue flowers that is available as 'Guanajuato'.

Salvia patens is tuberous, and easily lifted for overwintering in a greenhouse. The more common varieties reach 0.3 - 0.6 m (1-2 feet) tall and wide, and are covered with hastate shaped mistletoe-green leaves. Inflorescences reach 0.15 - 0.3 m (6-12 inches) or longer, rising well above the leaves. 1 inch flowers are spaced along the inflorescence, with a 1.3cm (0.5 inch) green calyx that adds to the attractiveness of the flowers.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Salvia patens, Cav. Half-hardy perennial, 1-2 1/2 ft. high: sts. herbaceous, erect; pilose: lvs. petiolate, ovate-deltoid, crenate, base hastate or in the upper lvs. rotund, both surfaces hispid; floral lvs. lanceolate-linear: floral whorls few, remote, with large fls.; calyx campanulate, villous, the teeth setaceous-acuminate; corolla blue, 2 in. or more long, the tube broad. Sept. Mountains of Mex.—The most commonly cult. blue salvia. Var. alba, Hort., differs only in having white fls. Var. compacta nana, Hort., is offered in the trade. Var. lilacina, Hort., has lilac-blue fls. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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