Joy Sage Plants

Salvia greggii Joy

What a joyous plant this is indeed: its delightful bicolour flowers are about as pretty as they come - half bright pink, half almost white, blush-pink. And they flower for most of the summer and early autumns, roughly from May right the way to November at their maximum. The leaves are a bit greener than many other sages. As with all sages, they offer up a five-star food supply to bees. To 1m x 50cm

Browse our range of Salvia varieties or all of our perennial plants.

Features

• Colour: Bicolour pink & white/blush
• Flowering: May-Nov
• Foliage: Deciduous, light green
• Height: 1m x 50cm
• Position: Sunny, sheltered
• Any well drained soil, likes chalk
• Good for large containers
• RHS Plants for Pollinators

Growing Salvia Joy

Salvias need close to full sun, and will grow near the coast in exposed locations. They are fully hardy, although their flowering season will be shortened in cold and windy places. They are happy on chalk, and like a light, well-drained but moist soil enriched with humus that doesn't remain wet in winter, so heavy clay is not good.

Established plants are drought resistant, but they'll still need watering in dry summer periods to flower really well - potted plants even more so.

Deadhead promptly to get the most from the flowering season, and prune out all the two-year-old growth (over about 1cm wide) in spring, ideally after the last frost, leaving the smaller shoots. Mulch lightly every year or two, ideally after a heavy spring rain when the soil has warmed up. A little help goes a long way with them.

In Your Garden Design

Perfect for Mediterranean gravel gardens, or perhaps in a fashionable prairie style behind soft pale grasses at the front of a border. You could go all "cottage garden" in style and plant with cosmos Fizzy Rose, a lovely bi-colour rose such as Angel Eyes, and combine with our Pretty Pinks and Regal Whites perennials collections. Salvias also work with agapanthus and alliums as well as echinacea. Consider salvias as part of your palette and the garden as your canvas.

Did You Know?

Great Comp Garden's diverse collection of salvias is curated by William Dyson, who has been cultivating them for decades, winning several Chelsea Flower Show awards, and collaborating with the RHS Wisley in trials using his hybrids. He is a fan of their versatility: "If you’ve got a sunny spot, and as long as there’s enough room, you can mix them in with a great variety of plants to produce lovely visual changes in texture, shape, size and colour.”

Position in full sun in well-drained soil enriched with humus planting 60cm apart. Water until established then drought tolerant. Avoid spots affected by winter waterlogging. Protect from slugs. Suitable for containers.

Apply a general fertiliser and a mulch in spring. Protect against slugs and snails. Deadhead to prolong flowering. Divide in spring.