| Salvia
daghestanica - David Lapsley |
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| “Behold I show you a mystery”
Early in 2010 I gave part of my
rockery a radical make-over – removing plants
which had outgrown their usefulness, and
generally tidying up.
Later in the early spring when I was
weeding, I came upon a little outgrowth of
leaves I couldn’t recognise.
It didn’t look like a weed, but I had
no memory of planting or sowing which could have
accounted for it, so I let it remain.
It flourished first into an attractive
downy rosette, and then to a sturdy flowering
plant with short stems (8-10”), and rich
violet/blue flowers which lasted into October.
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were now two mysteries to solve – how did it
get there, and what was its name?
It gradually dawned on me that it might have been
the product of a visit to the Dublin Group’s
conference at Termonfeckin
in 2008.
Peter Korn was one of the speakers who had a few
of his plants for sale, and when his stock had virtually
run out, he left a few odds and ends without labels, to
be taken away.
My guess is that my plant was one of them,
especially since Peter has a few salvias on his lists,
titled as “Salvia sp.”
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| After many fruitless enquiries, the name was finally
settled for me, by a keen gardening friend in England,
who sent a photo to the RHS.
It was identified as “Salvia daghestanica”
– rare in cultivation, apt to be tender, especially
vulnerable to wet winters, otherwise very desirable.
Further notes on cultivation, are that it needs
good soil with excellent drainage, and it looks
miserably dead in late autumn and winter, “but if you
are lucky, tiny growing points appear among the black
remains, and it soon gets going in spring”.
As a point of interest the name varies in some
descriptions to be “Salvia canescens var. daghestanica”
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| To continue with the tale of mystery, I lost my plant
in winter 2011, after taking off its protecting cover
too soon. However
with help from many quarters I have managed to plant on
two rooted cuttings, one in a pot, and the other
(photographed) in the garden, under protection since
late September.
Hope springs eternal – there might be another
miracle next spring!!
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