Salvia Wendy's Wish

The Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' is a new hybrid sage variety, a shrubby and floriferous plant that looks beautiful in ornamental gardens and flower pots. It is a perennial sage grown annually and forms a compact yet very floriferous small bush. This plant produces flowers of a vibrant purple-pink colour from summer to frost, which look shiny in the sunlight and emit a citrus fragrance. The light spikes of flowers are held on red stems that bear slightly aromatic foliage. This less hardy perennial can tolerate heat and requires well-drained but not too dry soil to thrive in a sunny or partially shaded location.

Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' is a hybrid sage discovered in an Australian garden in 2005. It is believed that this plant is a result of a cross between Salvia buchananii and Salvia chiapensis 'Purple Majesty'. However, some think it shares traits with Salvia mexicana 'Lolly'. This Lamiaceae family plant starts with herbaceous vegetation but quickly becomes slightly woody and forms a small, high, and wide bush that reaches an average height of 55 cm (21.7 in). Its flowering period is quite long, from the end of June until autumn. The flowers are of a stunning fluorescent magenta-pink colour and line along reddish stems, making the plant a beautiful sight. Small elongated flowers emerge from brown calyces with a grooved surface and measure about 5 cm (2 in) in length. They only last one day, covering the ground with their petals in the evening, but are promptly replaced the following day. The deciduous foliage has triangular, dentate-edged, medium-green leaves that are slightly aromatic. This sage is drought-tolerant once it has been established.

This shrubby sage is less hardy (-7°C or 19.4 °F in well-drained soil). It goes well with the summer and blue flowering of perennial geraniums such as 'Rozanne', Agastaches, and perennial flaxes. It creates a fabulous combination with autumn asters, especially those that require little maintenance, such as Aster laevis, Aster turbinellus, or Aster amellus. You can also pair it with other plants such as Gauras, tall sedums like Sedum 'Matrona', shrubby potentillas, and plants with beautiful autumn foliage like Euonymus alatus 'Compactus', Nandina domestica 'Firepower', and Miscanthus sinensis 'Afrika'. 

If you want to place it on the terrace, putting it in a large pot next to Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron' and Lobelia 'Hot Royal Blue' would be ideal. These plants' contrasting colours and silhouettes will create an elegant and fantastic picture.