Salvia buchananii Love and Wishes

Salvia Love and Wishes is a new variety of semi-shrubby sage, with very long flowering garnet-red blooms on a beautiful and dense foliage. Its long tubular flowers, with a pleasant citrus scent, are gathered in light spikes on purple stems towering above a slightly aromatic foliage. This half-hardy perennial, grown as an annual, is heat tolerant and disease resistant; it is an excellent choice for sunny flower beds and containers. Grow in well-drained soil, not too dry, in a sunny or partially shaded position.

The 'Love and Wishes' sage is an Australian hybrid variety of uncertain origin, probably derived from different species and cultivars. Among its presumed ancestors are Salvia buchananii, Salvia splendens, and Salvia chiapensis, although some observers recognize traits of Salvia mexicana 'Lolly' or even the Guarani sage 'Purple Majesty'. This plant from the Lamiaceae family produces herbaceous, then slightly woody vegetation, and quickly forms a small bush that is on average 65 cm (25.6 in) tall and wide. It flowers for an exceptionally long time, from the end of June until November. These dazzling, deep garnet-red flowers, magenta-tinged, are scattered along slightly arched purple to violet stems, giving the plant a particularly colourful appearance. The elongated flowers emerge from fluted violet-purple calyxes. Measuring about 5 cm (2 in) in length, they only live for a day, covering the ground with their petals in the evening, ready to be replaced the next morning. The deciduous foliage is composed of dark green, triangular, slightly aromatic, tooth-edged leaves. This sage tolerates drought fairly well once established, but is more floriferous in moist soil.

This half-hardy shrubby sage (-7°C/19.4 °F) in well-drained soil) looks great with the summer-flowering blue blooms of the perennial geranium 'Rozanne', Agastaches and perennial flaxes. But combine it with autumn asters and it is truly fabulous: choose the undemanding ones such as Aster laevis, Aster turbinellus or Aster amellus. Use with gauras, tall sedums (Sedum 'Matrona'), shrubby potentillas and beautiful autumn foliage (Euonymus alatus 'Compactus', Nandina domestica 'Firepower') to create an elegant display. On the terrace, place it in a large pot, right next to Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron', black-leaved Heuchera 'Blackout' and lobelia 'Hot Royal Blue'; the contrast of colours and shapes will be fantastic!