I have a Fuego Salvia I was told even though it's a perennial it will not grow back in New Jersey. Bayville when do I cut it back

It's native to Brazil so won't survive your winters.

Sue, can you point to info about what OP is calling 'Fuego'? All I can find is possibly a Salvia × jamensis which should be hardy in zone 7. Info, including our database, is sparse.

You're right Zoe, I didn't look up the zone for Bayville, NJ.
This was the only place I saw mention of it. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/...
I saw other sites mention Salvia x jamensis and named cultivars for higher zones:
https://plantlust.com/plants/3...
https://www.siteone.com/en/910...
https://www.anniesannuals.com/...
https://gardenoracle.com/image...
and then some at zone 7
https://www.monrovia.com/vibe-...
https://www.plantdelights.com/...

Sue, I saw the rhs site too but it notes "Name Status Unresolved" and gives info only on the genus level. So I'm puzzled.

I can't find anything (else) named Fuego.

@trdyperkins , do you have a more specific name? There's a good chance your salvia will survive the winter. In which case, don't trim it until late winter or early spring.

Our database entry for Sage (Salvia x jamensis 'Fuego') was added in 2018 but no one added any photos. A mystery.

@trdyperkins, please add a couple photos. That will help clear up the confusion.

I find there's a wealth of information on Salvia gregii (autumn sage), S. microphylla (small-leaf sage) and S. x jamensis 'Fuego' on Google Gemini, the AI assistant for Google. Apparently these two Salvia species also hybridize in the wild.

The cultivar has often been tested for mild climates, starting around USDA Zone 8, but does "perform" down to Zone 7 with well drained soil.

Most of Bayville is Zone 7a, with some 7b.

Alas, that information is general to S x jamensis but not to the mystery cultivar 'Fuego'. Beware the Bot.

Nonetheless, if OP's plant is S x jamensis, winter hardiness is borderline in Bayville and so will depend on OP's microclimate, low temps, rainfall, soil porosity and whether it is potted or planted.

@trdyperkins please send more info and photos.

@SunnyBorders Charlie I sent you a tree-mail.

It looks like there is a salvia 'gran fuego' and a salvia x jamensis 'fuego'.

The gran fuego was plant of the day years ago: The thread "Salvia of the Day: Sage (Salvia 'Gran Fuego')" in Plants of the Day forum

There are links to the db entry and to a photo in the thread. It is hardy down to 8a.

The salvia x jamensis fuego, as mentioned, has very little info on them. Varieties vary in hardiness from 7 to 9. Here is some info on the general salvia x jamensis and some specific plants (fuego not listed): https://www.fbts.com/jame-sage...

If the different cultivars (over 20) were cloned from the original field collected natural hybrid plant (or from clones of it), the odds are that the different cultivars have quite similar growing requirements. Salvia x jamensis is found in nature, especially where the ranges of the two parent species overlap.

As per Toedtoes, the six named Salvia x jamensis cultivars, listed in Flowers by the Sea, are all assigned USDA zone 7 to 9.

One mention I found, of Salvia x jamensis 'Fuego' was at the Old Forge Nursery in Brittany, France, where it was 'El Fuego'!

I don't see that all salvia x jamensis are clones.

Also, while they say minimum zone "7 to 9", that's a range not an exact. Which means that much will depend on rainfall, micro-climates, etc.

Some x jamensis are more drought tolerant than others. And I know when looking at them at our arboretum sales that some require more shade than others (I'm in zone 9b).

So I think it's impossible to determine if the OP's plant will make it through their winter or not.

As mentioned, photos of the actual plant(especially with the flowers) can help us accurately identify it. Then we might be able to help more.

Without that, I'd suggest the OP treat it as a sensitive perennial, pot it and protect it from the weather for the season.

Toedtoes said: I don't see that all salvia x jamensis are clones.

No one said that here, except you, Toedtoes.

Although, there is a definition debate of the noun 'clone' and the adjective 'clonal', that's for another discussion.

SunnyBorders said: If the different cultivars (over 20) were cloned from the original field collected natural hybrid plant (or from clones of it), the odds are that the different cultivars have quite similar growing requirements. Salvia x jamensis is found in nature, especially where the ranges of the two parent species overlap.

@leftwood Actually yes, someone DID mention they were all clones.

Your quote does not say all salvia x jamensis are clones.

Or maybe I'm just stupid (it wouldn't be the first time). You'll have to show me. Show me how and where your stated quote says that. I'm always happy to admit my follies when I'm wrong, because I learn from them.

In the interests of precision and to be fair to Leftwood, I did say "if" all the Salvia x jamensis, (actually, except 'James Compton') are clones.

I think that the first hybrid plant collected (in 1991) was given the cultivar name 'James Compton': named for a British botanist and Salvia expert involved in the expedition of discovery. I don't know how these things go, but I'm guessing that all the other cultivars came from that plant, ot its descendents under cultivation. Maybe that's wrong.

So, to clarify, your comment "IF the different cultivars were cloned..." (my emphasis) wasn't in response to someone else in the thread stating that they are all clones. But you ARE suggesting that all were clones of a single plant.

If you read the wikipedia page on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... (which is where I believe you got your info regarding Compton), it states that at least two other people were cultivating the hybrid before Compton, so there would have been multiple plants being cultivated not just one.

It also states "natural occurring hybridS" which suggests that the hybrids were not all the same variety/cultivar in nature, but that they varied (likely based on location). So that makes it potentially reasonable that some of the currently existing cultivars for sale came from naturally occurring variations not from the Compton plant.

I had not seen the reference you cite, Toedtoes, but it is obviously relevant to the discussion.

Were the two cultivars created from the descendents of the plant Compton collected, or were they not? The "type specimen" for the hybrid species (if there is such a thing) would be the plant originally described by Compton. To my current understanding, plant Taxonomy only goes down to the specific (species) level. Botany has proceedures (Taxonomy) for creating and naming taxa and recognizing new members. Commercial interests do their own thing.

I feel further speculation should be based on more knowledge and more information.

Per wikipedia:

Salvia × jamensis was first described and named by English botanist James A. Compton after he collected plant material near the village of Jamé in the Mexican state of Coahuila in 1991,[4] though it had been in cultivation prior to its current naming as early as 1988 by Carl Schoenfeld and John Fairey of Yucca do Nursery.[3]

Per the San Marcos Nursery linked as the source (3):

In many respects Salvia x jamensis 'Sierra de San Antonio' is similar to one of the Salvia greggii cultivars but is actually considered to be a hybrid between Salvia greggii and Salvia microphylla. This hybrid cross was described by the English botanist James Compton after plants of this parentage were collected near the village of Jame in the Coahuila province in 1991. It can be found in areas were the two species overlap in the Sierra Madre Occidentale in Coahuila and neighboring San Luis Potosi between 6,500 and 9,800 feet.

In 1988, prior to Compton's naming of the hybrid cross between Salvia greggii and Salvia microphylla, Carl Schoenfeld and John Fairey collected plants in this area and introduced several at Yucca Do Nursery, including this cultivar, which we have been growing since 1994.

So, there were several cultivars that were collected from the wild. The 'Sierra de San Antonio' cultivar is apparently the cultivar that Compton found - but it had been one of several that were originally collected in 1988.

True: have done a fair bit of reading beyond AI (though, I'd say, still a place for locating leads): and am now convinced that what came to be called Salvia x jamensis was, in fact, field collected more than once.