The Bridgemere Gardening Blog

Salvia Caradonna

I didn’t make it to Chelsea this year, but was pleased to hear that one of the stars of the Telegraph’s Best in Show award winning garden was one of my top perennials, Salvia ‘Caradonna’. This plant was a hit with us at Bridgemere as soon as it appeared a few years ago. What sets it apart from the many blue perennial Salvias available nowadays is its almost black, slender, upright stems, clad with deep green leaves, bearing dark purple flowers for weeks on end. The effect is stylish, elegant and classy.

It is one of those plants which would fit into and add depth and tone to almost any type of planting scheme. My first impulse would be to put it with equally strong, brighter coloured plants like yellow Achilleas, orange Geums or red Potentillas like Flamenco or Arc en Ciel; but it would go equally well with soft pink Sidalcea ‘Elsie Heugh’ and silvery Artemisia ‘Valerie Finnis’. Hot or cool, it will strike just the right note. So well chosen Andy Sturgeon; thanks to you this first class plant will become better known and more widely circulated. It is worth mentioning that, like most Salvias, it is popular with bees and butterflies too, so will help to boost your wildlife population.

Salvia Caradonna is hardy and easily grown in any well-drained, reasonably fertile (not too rich) soil, in a warm, sunny site.