Salvia argentea seeds – ( Silver Sage, Artemis)

Description

Picture thanks to Jelitto Seeds

This plant is a short lived perennial, which is grown for its unusual bright silver leafed foliage, which gradually turns to grey-green as the summer advances. The leaves are quite plump and fuzzy like a lambs ear. It is best placed at the front of the garden where its beautiful tactile foliage can be appreciated. It dies down in winter and comes up again in spring. It is frost hardy to approx minus 20 deg C. If side shoots appear in the second year, they can be removed with some of the root and transplanted to propagate new plants. The plant will usually set some seedlings if left to flower,but usually it will die after flowering. The flowers themselves produce a lovely show and are displayed on 60 – 90cm stems . They are hooded white flowers which are faintly suffused with pink. Some gardeners remove them to keep the plant from spending all its energy, and to try and get it to last longer.

Sowing advice
Sow mid to late spring.Sow seed under cover in spring for planting out after danger of frost has passed. Time your planting in colder areas to start indoors four to six weeks before the last expected frost.
Sow the seeds in pots or trays on the surface of moist seed raising mix, and cover them with a sprinkling of mix.
Place them in a bright location and keep them moist, but not wet until germination, usually around 21 to 30 days. Continue to keep the soil moist until the first rosette of leaves form.