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Salvia patens ‘Guanajuato’
4 September 2009

Any flower of this brilliant blue would find a place in my garden. Is it ‘French’, ‘butcher’s’, ‘gentian’? I’m not sure. It is paler than the typical Salvia patens, to be sure, but also almost twice the size, with flowers that can be 2 inches long. Indeed the whole plant is tall and hearty (and liable, until established with a good solid rhizome, to fall over). It was introduced from Guanajuato in Mexico in 1991 by James Compton, Martyn Rix and John Darcy.

Why are blues so hard to photograph? I could Google for the scientific answer, but meanwhile find this picture nearer to reality than many I have taken of delphiniums or gentians. These plants are from cuttings taken last autumn and started flowering in late July. I plan to cover up their crowns in the ground with slates to keep them dry next winter in the hope of establishing them as perennials.

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