Salvia Ultra Violet

Certain to be the only flowers of this hue in your garden, Ultra Violet is a brand-new, very exciting Sage for the dry, sunny garden. These blooms are a unique shade of violet-magenta so bright they seem to glow, and they keep coming from early summer all the way into fall! Find a special place for this one in the sunny border -- it brings in good visitors, keeps away bad, smells great, and looks good 3 seasons a year!

Ultra Violet opens its luminous blooms from dark buds that appear very plentifully on upright spikes all over this dense, well-branched perennial. Cut them for indoor bouquets or leave them for the hummingbirds and butterflies, who will visit frequently. The finely-cut green foliage has a wonderful sage aroma, especially in high summer, which keeps deer, rabbits, and other nibbling creatures at bay while perfuming the entire garden. Heaven!

Just 18 to 20 inches high, this perennial spreads 24 to 28 inches wide, with excellent branching for even more flowering stems. It thrives in normal to dry soil, and once established is quite tolerant of drought. The flowers begin in early summer in most climates, continue all season, and persist into autumn until frost nips them back. In other words, Ultra Violet is a long-blooming, low maintenance wonder!

Ultra Violet was discovered in a Ft. Springs, Colorado, garden, and experts believe it may be a cross of the blue-flowered S. lycioides with the pinkish-red S. greggii. And who performed this cross, you ask? --Hummingbirds are probably responsible for this wonderful gift!

Ultra Violet is a very fast grower, and you will find it tolerant of adversity and quite garden-tough. In other words, a sun-loving perennial you shouldn't even try to live without! Enjoy this lovely new member of the huge, diverse, always beautiful Salvia family. Zones 5-9.