Each year seems to see the introduction of yet more of imposing salvia hybrids but this one has to be the most dramatic. The whole plant is two metres tall with 30cm long flower spikes. The individual flowers are an eye-catching combination of pale lavender petals surrounded by a purple calyx. The colour of the stem and the of calyces darkens as the temperature drops.
There are reports that is has survived to as low as -10°C, but I don’t believe it will cope with the damp and cold of even a mild British winter, so take cuttings and keep the mature plants in the greenhouse over winter.
It has the same parentage of Salvia ‘Waverly’ and was introduced by the Santa CruzArboretum in California.