SALVIA VS. VERONICA
My father used to say that back in the 1950’s, you could watch just about anything on television as long as it was either wrestling or a western. Westerns have gone the way of all things, but wrestling has made a huge comeback over the last ten years. This makes me feel better, somehow, as I wrestle with stakes and tall plants in the garden.
I have a challenge right now that may or may not lead me to more wrestling with plant stakes. I need some blue, spiky plants to liven up the summer garden. This is the perfect time to order such things for the fall planting season. Because of that, I am also wrestling mentally with the choice between two worthy cultivars. The struggle–Salvia vs. Veronica–sounds like it could be a televised, World Wrestling Entertainment all-girl extravaganza.
In one corner, figuratively speaking, stands salvia, specifically Salvia x sylvestris ‘Mainacht’ or ‘May Night’, chosen as the Perennial Plant Association’s “Plant of the Year” in 1997. Bred in Germany, this hybrid has at least one illustrious parent: Salvia pratensis, a European meadow sage that grows between 1 and 4 feet tall, with aromatic foliage and dramatic violet-blue flower spikes. ‘Mainacht’ comes from a prolific genus and is kin to about 750 salvia species native to many parts of the world. As if that didn’t make for enough relatives, the salvias are members of the Labiatae or mint family, an enormous clan of useful and decorative herbs, with a justifiable reputation for being vigorous, sometimes to the point of invasiveness.
Over the last couple of decades, Germans plant breeders have taken on genera like coreopsis, Sedum and goldenrod, creating hybrids that are more vigorous, floriferous and sometimes, compact than their forbearers. After a lot of crosses, ‘Mainacht’ emerged onto the market, with an even better and richer color than Salvia pratensis, but a slightly more compact growth habit. Reaching between 18 and 24-inches tall, ‘Mainacht’ is generally a middle-of-the-border plant. No matter where you put it, the plant makes a colorful statement in the garden.
‘Mainacht’s only real problem is floppiness. It blooms tall and straight in May, but as the season progresses, it tends to flop over, even with deadheading of spent flowerheads. This is fine in a cottage-type garden where flopping is par for the course, but if you intended the plant to be a strong vertical accent, its value diminishes as its stems curve towards the ground. This can be counteracted by judicious staking, of course, or growing the salvia amidst other plants upon whom it can lean for support. You can also cut it back to the basal leaves after the first flush of bloom and it will rise again later in the summer in all its cerulean glory.
Or you can grow Veronica spicata, especially ‘Sunny Border Blue’, the cultivar that was the Perennial Plant Association’s Plant of the Year in 1993. Despite its resemblance to ‘Mainacht’, it is a member of the Scrophulariaceae family, with relatives that include snapdragons and verbascum. The veronica is roughly the same height as Salvia ‘Mainacht’ and has similar spikes of blue-purple flowers. The advantage of ‘Sunny Border Blue’ and some of its other Veronica spicata kin, is that it tends to stay more upright through the season. As with other plants, you should remove spent flowers after the first flush of bloom to encourage rebloom. Both veronicas and salvias like sunny situations and can take a bit of drought. Salvia probably has a slight edge in drought-tolerance and reblooming capacity. Its aromatic leaves also make it more varmint-resistant than veronica. Veronica, on the other hand, generally makes a better cut flower.
So which should you choose? It depends on what kind of garden you have, where you locate your blue spiky flowers, whether you have a varmint problem and how much you like staking. My suggestion, which I am going to apply to my own plant purchasing, is to try both and see which works better for you. It may well be that both plants look great in your garden and will perform equally well given the right situations. If you insert an unobtrusive bamboo or other stake next to your salvia when you install it, the plant may lean on it very naturally as it grows and never need tying. If you do have to tie it up, you won’t have to search out an appropriate support at a time when you have a million other garden chores to do.
I would call the Salvia/Veronica smack-down a draw. If you want to purchase either cultivar, or both, try Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Road, Madison, OH 44057; (800) 852-5243; www.bluestoneperennials.com. Free catalog.