Salvia caudata

Salvia caudata

This is an unusual Salvia from Mexico with small, intensely violet-blue flowers with white markings on the lower lip. It has attractive, apple-green, heart-shaped leaves with distinctive veins. The cultivar name 'El Cielo Blue' is sometimes added, but I am not sure if that is actually the proper name for a quite different salvia. Occasionally Salvia caudata is referred to colloquially as the blue sky Mexican sage. It grows to a shrub about 1.5 m tall. The blooms appear over a long period from summer and into autumn. It is not a showy plant but the colour of the flowers attracts attention. It will grow in sun or part-shade and doesn't need any special conditions. It is frost sensitive. I prune it in mid-August. It grows from cuttings and also self-seeds a bit. This plant was brought to Australia by Bob Cherry from Paradise Plants.