Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’

This regal salvia sports deeply colored stems

When my husband bring homeSalvia nemorosa‘Caradonna ’ ( Zones 5–9 ) I was somewhat doubting . I wondered how this new German choice of perennial salvia could be unlike from all the other cultivar . The following spring I was pleasantly surprised .

Although I did n’t require more lavender - blue in my previous - bound garden , I was captivated by the thick - violet - blue blossom of ‘ Caradonna ’ . By violetblue I mean real purpleness , regal purple — the color mediaeval royal house prize because of its disbursal and scarceness . Other perennial salvias , like ‘ East Friesland ’ , have a similar hue , but the blossom of ‘ Caradonna ’ also offer challenging red - reddish blue - stained stem that seem purple - black from a aloofness .

In addition to the distinctive stem color , each flower has a green - and - red - striped calyx ( the part relate the flower and stem ) subtended by a red - violet , split - shaped bract ( a modified leaf on the blossom that looks like a petal ) , leave the plant a red - violet glow after the blossom fade . But as the spikes elongate and the flowers sink , it ’s sentence to deadhead to spur on more peak . With only a few minutes of deadheading a day , ‘ Caradonna ’ continues to flower for month , even producing a young crop of violet stem in late August .

cryptical purple can be tricky to use in the garden , since too much can be sombre . So , I use ‘ Caradonna ’ as an dialect to add depth and contrast with plant life like lemon - yellow ‘ Moonshine ’ Achillea millefolium ( Achillea‘Moonshine ’ , Zones 4–8 ) or the gilt daisy of ‘ Sunray ’ coreopsis ( tickseed grandiflora‘Sunray ’ , Zones 4–9 ) . The grapeshot foliage of ‘ Bertram Anderson ’ sedum ( SedumX ‘ Bertram Anderson ’ , Zones 5–9 ) sets up a terrific dusky colour echo while globes of flowering onion ( genus Allium aflatunense , zone 4–8 ) provide a redviolet note . flux with the felty Ag leaf of ‘ Countess Helen von Stein ’ lamb ’s capitulum ( Stachys byzantina‘Countess Helen von Stein ’ syn . ‘ gravid ear ’ , Zones 4–8 ) the colouring of ‘ Caradonna ’ intensifies .

‘ Caradonna ’ grows to 18 to 20 in tall in my garden with the upright piano , spiky grade typical of its congenator . The stems do n’t require support provide the plant are located in good deal of sun . But where my plants received morning shade from a nearby privet hedge , the bunch collapsed . bring home the bacon ‘ Caradonna ’ salvia with practiced drain , and water it during juiceless spells to improve performance .

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