Salvia 'Wine & Roses'
Ornamental sage
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Supplied as an established plant in a 3 litre pot
Aspect
Full sun
Hardiness
Not fully hardy
Flowers
Summer to autumn
Soil
Loam, sand, chalk
About this plant
Dark, velvety flowers all summer long
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Description
Salvia 'Wine & Roses' is a shrubby perennial salvia producing an exceptionally long succession of deep wine-red flowers set against unusually dark, near-black calyces, which remain ornamental even after the petals have dropped. The foliage is aromatic, mid-green, and softly hairy, and the plant has a bushy, well-branched habit that fills out attractively through the season. It flowers from early summer and, in a sheltered sunny position, will continue producing blooms well into autumn, making it one of the most persistently colourful salvias available for UK gardens. -
Why we like it
Specs & details
The particulars
- Botanical name
- Salvia 'Wine & Roses'
- Common name
- Ornamental sage
- Supplied as
- 3 litre pot
- Flower colour
- Red
- Eventual height
- 60–90 cm
- Eventual spread
- 60–75 cm
- Flowering period
- Summer to autumn
- Habit
- Bushy shrubby perennial
- Life cycle
- Shrubby perennial
- Hardiness
- Not fully hardy
- Aspect
- Full sun
- Soil type
- Loam, sand, chalk
- Moisture
- Well-drained
- Position
- Mid-border, patio container, sunny terrace
- Plant spacing
- 3–4 plants per m²
- Growing skill
- Easy to grow
Plant calendar
When to plant, when it performs
Planting & care
Help it thrive
Planting guide
Plant Salvia 'Wine & Roses' in a warm, sheltered position in full sun with good drainage; it will not perform well in cold, exposed sites or in heavy, waterlogged soils. Improve heavy clay by incorporating generous quantities of grit and compost before planting. In borders, set plants at the same depth as they were in their pot, spacing them around 60 cm apart to allow for the bushy mature spread. In containers, use a free-draining loam-based compost mixed with extra grit, and ensure the pot has unobstructed drainage holes. Positioning containers against a south- or west-facing wall offers additional warmth and shelter that will extend both the flowering season and winter survival.
Care tips
Trim the growing tips lightly in early summer to encourage a bushy habit and more branching flower stems. Deadhead or cut back flowered stems by around a third as each flush fades to prompt the next round of growth and bloom. Do not cut back hard into old wood until spring, as the stems provide frost protection to the crown over winter. In spring, once new growth is visible at the base, cut back to just above the lowest healthy shoots. Feed with a balanced fertiliser in spring and apply a potassium-rich fertiliser such as a tomato feed in mid-summer to support continued flowering. Water container plants regularly through summer; border plants need only occasional watering once established in well-drained soil.
Winter care
Salvia 'Wine & Roses' is not fully hardy and will not reliably survive a cold UK winter without protection. In mild, sheltered gardens in the south and west it may come through an average winter if the woody base is left intact and the crown is covered with a deep dry mulch of bark, straw, or dry bracken in late autumn. In colder or more exposed gardens, and wherever hard frosts are likely, it is safer to take semi-ripe cuttings in late summer as insurance, or to move container-grown plants under glass or into a frost-free greenhouse before the first frosts. Do not cut the plant back hard until spring, as the old stems provide some frost protection to the crown.