Salvias

These stalwart perennials will provide flowers to summer’s end

Salvias are a diverse group of herbaceous and shrubby perennials, with various species and varieties flowering from summer through to the first frost. Those flowering later are the most diverse, from 30cm (1ft) high shrublets to towering 2.4m (8ft) perennials. Many come from southern USA, Mexico and South America, rendering them vulnerable in the winter-hardiness stakes, but they are of such value in terms of delivering late colour that they are always worth the risk.