Salvia madrensis

This plant, sometimes referred to as forsythia sage, is an unusual salvia, being bright yellow. It comes from Mexico and flowers from autumn to winter with big spikes of bloom and gives a cheerful mass of colour in the cooler months above its big, heart-shaped foliage. It gets to 1.5-2 m tall and does creep around a bit, so will form quite a big clump eventually; so you need to dig up bits which stray too far - this is the best way to propagate it! It looks good nearby autumn-colouring foliage or with yellow-variegated leaves such as zebra grass Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus', Canna 'Bengal Tiger' or shrubby green and yellow variegated Euonymus cultivars. It is also brilliant with blue flowers such as Salvia 'Costa Rica Blue' or hot coloured blooms such as red or orange dahlias and cannas. Although a sun-lover, it will still flower well in part-shaded sites: and it will look less wilted on hot days. It also may be less inclined to sucker in part shade. Its flowers have quite a sticky feel to them. Old stems should be cut to the ground in August. Another cutting (by half) around December might give a more compact plant.

Poatsript:In the end, I removed my plant as it just spread too much and needed too much cutting back. I may reintroduce it in a partly shaded spot to see if it is less rampageous there!