Garden Pic Wednesday: Red & Purple Salvia

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Today I was doing more fall clean-up like trimming off expired Hosta stems and picking up pine cones. I picked up around 40. 
I also dug up a couple of giant Hosta's that were not thriving where they were to a new location. Also moved some Ajuga to the same location.

Today's Garden Pics are Red & Purple Salvia!
Salvia is a member of the Sage family. I didn't know that.
Easy to grow and drought tolerant. Bees and Hummingbirds love Salvia; Hummer particularly like the red.
These photos are both of my own Salvia's taken several about a month ago:

Red Salvia:
This pretty shot captures the Salvia in my large container garden in the front yard. The red is showier then the purple and makes a nice splash of red in the garden or container. Here in the South it can be perennial and will bloom well into winter as long as it doesn't freeze. I've seen stems sprout again in spring and sometimes they re-seed themselves.
But I haven't been lucky enough to have either of those options happen for a couple years now. What I have, I bought this year.


Purple Salvia:
I've had this plant for years and years.  It is in the ground, so that protects the roots from the cold and it faithfully reappears every spring! So far, I've never needed to buy another, though this year I found it really benefited from a little fertilizer!

This photo was shot around the end of July and those purple spires just keep getting taller and taller. I guess each spire is around 12 to 14 inches now. Of course, the bottom bloom turns brown on each spire, while the tip has fresh bloom. 
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That's it for today! Come back tomorrow for Mama Kat!

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