Proven Winners’ Salvia gets our patio containers Rockin’

One of our hummingbirds pay Rockin’ Deep Purple salvia a visit. Notice the dark calyx surrounding the purple flowers that give the plant a cool look even when the flower has faded and fell to the ground.

One season of Deep Purple will make you a fan too

Proven Winners’ Rockin’ Deep Purple Salvia are the rock stars of our patio containers this summer.

All you need to do is spend an afternoon on the outdoor patio and there’s no denying Rockin Deep Purple salvia’s popularity. Like groupies at a rock concert the hummingbirds and bees just keep buzzing around the plants. It’s now September, and these plants have been performing since I planted them in spring.

This image catches the hummingbird’s beautiful green feathers against a dark backdrop.

It’s hard to imagine what they have in mind for an encore this fall.

Last year I planted another Proven Winners’ salvia – Rockin’ The Blues salvia – out in the landscape and missed most of the hummingbird action.

This year, however, I decided to put the plants in large black containers on the patio where I could keep a closer eye on its fans.

Our native Bumble bees are in love with the Deep Purple salvias in the garden. If you are interested, check out my post on the importance of our native bumble bees.

The aerial acrobatics is great fun to watch as the hummingbirds battle over the plants.

Oh man, I was not disappointed. The bees and hummingbirds have been visiting the dark purple flowers almost since the day I planted them in spring.

Besides the attractiveness of these plants to pollinators and hummingbirds, their extremely low-maintenance growth habits have made a real fan out of me too.

These hybrid salvias from Proven Winners are not new. They’ve been around since about 2017, but they’re new to me. And they are new to the hummingbirds in our garden who have put these tough, upright plants on their regular hourly feeding rounds for the summer

In fact, as the end of summer approaches, the hummingbirds are actually beginning their aerial acrobatics over and around these Rockin’ salvias in a show of dominance to keep competitors away.

A female hummingbird works the Rockin’ Deep Purple salvia.

When the dark purple flowers are finished blooming, the calyx, which holds the flower petals, remains a really dark purple almost black and gives the effect that the plant is still in bloom, when it’s actually not. Traditional salvias’ calyx’s turn brown and lessen the appearance of the plants. Not these Rockin’ ones.

The light green foliage on the plants looks good throughout the summer too and there is no need for pruning these neatly-growing upright plants or even deadheading.

A dragonfly takes a quick break on the Deep Purple salvia calyx topping off the plant in fine form.

The only chore is to clean up the fallen petals left lying on the ground. I like to leave the purple flower petals on the patio for a while because they look so good just laying there.

Rockin’ Deep Purple salvia is joined by a lighter blue version named Rockin’ Playing the Blues. The entire Rockin’ series features fragrant foliage, a long blooming time, a tolerance for extreme heat and, most important, are very attractive to pollinators.

The Salvias have been alive with Bumble bees from spring through summer.

In addition there is the Rockin’ Golden Delicious with striking yellow-green foliage and Rockin’ Fuchsia with its unique fuchsia coloured flowers.

This hummer eyes its next flower as it makes its rounds in the garden. I love that the flower is in focus here but the hummingbird is just out of the camera’s focus range as it prepares to move in for a meal.

What to expect in the garden

You can expect a height of between 24 - 36 inches on these upright plants in the garden with a comparable spread.

Keep them well watered and fertilize about once a week for best blooms.

Ours are in sun for most of the day and are doing well. Proven Winners says the plants perform at their best in part sun to sun.

The good news is that the plants will bloom from spring right to the first hard frost.

They are hardy in zones 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b. In colder zones, you can just treat them like an annual.

Plant them in the garden beds and use them as thrillers in large containers. I guarantee, you won’t be disappointed.

For those who worry about using a cultivar in their garden, Proven Winners say the plant is “sterile so it will not set seed and that means it will just bloom, and bloom and bloom all season without stopping.”

The company also says the salvias “can easily trim to keep the shape or size where you want it, and it will branch out and become even thicker and more full of flowers.

Proven Winners states that: “Regular watering and fertilizing will keep the plant at maximum colour and growth but it is amazingly tough and once established in a pot it will tolerate lower levels of food and water. However, severe drought will cause lower leaves to drop and if this happens give it a quick haircut removing the upper 1/3 of growth and once it’s back to normal watering it will fill back in.”

I could not resist putting in this B&W photo of the lone salvia flower on the leaf. For more garden B&W photography, you can check out my earlier post A woodland garden: Study in B&W.

Just keep on rockin’

Salvias are a great addition to any wildlife garden and a plant that you’ll want to feature in several areas of your garden. Look for spots that you know will get plenty of sun and plug them into the landscape in groupings of three to maximize their benefits.

I like the drama of Rockin’ Deep Purple, but Rocking Playing the Blues added a nice soft blue to the garden last year. Next year I’ll look for Rockin’ Fuschia to add a pop of colour to a sunny spot. I’m thinking they would be showstoppers in our black containers.