Salvia mexicana

Limelight (cultivar)  

This has been a reliable, pest free perennial with low water requirements. I have it growing in full sun, where it is also open to the elements of wind and cold. It freezes to the ground each winter and comes back in March. It will grow to about six feet tall and six feet wide by late summer. The long bloom spikes consist of gorgeous electric blue flowers emerging from lime green calyxes. It will bloom from late summer to the first freeze. It attracts butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and neighbors (for those show stopping blooms). Propagation is by cuttings.

Also known as Lolly Jackson salvia (I understand it was found in her front yard garden), this salvia was discovered growing in Quertaro, Mexico by Robert Ornduff in 1978.

-Sandi