Well, a lot of my perennial bed gets shade in the afternoon; as far as I can tell, they really appreciate it. They certainly aren't leaning nor are they all stretched out from too little light.
My tomatoes and peppers seem to be the only plants I grow that demand 8 hours or more of direct sunlight.

breith95 said:off the topic of this forum-When did you know that gardening was for you? did you have an "AHA" moment or were you born to it? For me it just brings such a release and joy. I love the scent of the soil in the early spring. I love getting my hands muddy, my jeans dirty and my socks filthy. I love every aspect of playing in the dirt. my parents gardened-Dad did the tomato thing and my Mom did sweet peas, roses and peonies with dahlias added to the mix. they composted way back in the day and Dad installed an underground sprinkler system. i guess gardening came naturally for me. i always wanted my own piece pf land to do with as i pleased. mistakes? of course. but i learned from my errors...i hope!

As a boy I watched Mom work her garden. Pleasant memories.

on the salvia subject..ordered 3 windwalker from bluestone, due next week or so and i can't wait. i have the spot picked out for them near an assortment of day lilyies,swamp milkweed,penstemon Dark Tower and rose campion which grows like crazy in my garden. i think purpleinopp wants penstemon Dark Towers. for me, its just ok. it's very pretty when it's in bloom but it's a short flowering period. here and gone. Gerris if you're reading this you know i got my problem corrected. and i love, love the yellow sage.

haven't seen much about agastaches. most nurseries claim these are good container plants. I've been growing mine in the ground for several years but this year i'm going to try using a container. I bought "little adder" at one of my garden haunts. it's small so I think i'll get 2 more and pot them up and see what happens. agastaches don't have much of a big root ball and their stems are brittle. this will be my experiment for 2021. that they survive NJ humidity surprises me. NJ can get really swampy come mid summer. our state bird is the gold finch but it should be a mosquito.

I've tried agastaches and I'm not impressed. Next to salvias they look insipid and sick looking. I did put then in the driest part of my garden. Guessing they don't like the humidity here.

My Salvia cardiophylla made flowers today. I originally bought it a few years ago from I think Flowers by the Sea and have since propagated it from seeds collected from offspring plants.

Wow! Such a neat salvia!
My lady in red is blooming.😁

gardenfish said:Wow! Such a neat salvia!
My lady in red is blooming.😁

Love coccinea, and so do the hummingbirds

Kept this particular plant going since 2000. Well, not the original plant! 🤣 It re seeds every year.

I found a number of salvia seedling volunteers in the pot that held Royal Bumble. I wonder if they are Royal Bumble offspring? I will let them grow out to see!

Free plants great!!

My annual salvia re seeds like crazy; I could only wish my perennial salvias did that.

I found this micro-Lepidoptera insect on my Salvia cardiophylla today. It was identified as a pest of sages. I dispatched the adult and put the container where chickadees and I can monitor for caterpillars. The identification is Southern Pink Moth.

https://www.fbts.com/Battles-i...

Does the Southern Pink Moth have more than one generation, anybody?

My Royal Bumble plant died after a few years of life. These seedlings are volunteers in the pot which contained Royal Bumble and I am hoping they are offspring.

Sorry, Joseph, but those look like Salvia coccinea. 'Royal Bumble' seedlings wouldn't have fuzzy stems. Leaves would be smaller and glossier, too. At least they are seedlings of a good plant and not total weeds.

Danita said:Sorry, Joseph, but those look like Salvia coccinea. 'Royal Bumble' seedlings wouldn't have fuzzy stems. Leaves would be smaller and glossier, too. At least they are seedlings of a good plant and not total weeds.

Muchas gracias!

Here is a Salvia cardiophylla flower the Southern Pink Moth missed.



Salvia penstemonoides is flower budding. Hopefully the SPM will not find it.

I was pleased to see the first flowers of Salvia penstemonoides, a plant I started from seed last year. Now to keep the Southern Pink Moth off of it.

More hummingbird food - Salvia coccinea