Salvias and impulse buys
Post categories: Tom Sumner
| 17:08 UK time, Thursday, 9 July 2009
For me flower shows are all about the plants. I always wander around looking for what's new and unusual, what's in fashion and most importantly what's a bargain. There is always much deliberation before I make a purchase. What do I have room for in my garden? Will the plants I'm admiring really grow in the dry shady spot that needs filling in the corner?
I put my hands up, after all this thinking I nearly always go with an impulse buy. This year is was salvias. Not the gaudy red ones you see in park bedding schemes but the more refined shrubby perennial ones. I've found these to be surprisingly hardy and they provide a subtle display of flowers right through the summer without much effort from me. They are definitely a plant that deserves wider popularity, and are clearly in fashion this year as different varieties including the vibrant red and white Salvia 'Hot lips' and magenta 'Pink Blush' were present on a number of the stands.
I bought a couple from Wall End Nursery, Salvia greggi 'Desert Blaze' with variegated foliage and scarlet flowers and 'Raspberry Royale' a compact variety with reddish pink flowers. Both of them will look great in my sheltered borders, where they can fill in the spaces left by early flowering perennials.
After that things really went down hill and I succumbed to buying another Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum'. For the past five years I've bought one of these from Hampton, telling myself that I'm going to bring it into the house early and really treasure it. Sadly each year I forget and it is killed off by the cold weather. Fingers crossed this time I'll remember. I wonder if they'll do a discount if I order 12 months in advance?
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