Do the ends you cutoff contain the seeds? If so can you plant what you cutoff in the same bed son new flowers are always coming up and keeping the bed full looking? TY
I haven't tried doing that, but yes, the spent flower spikes contain the seeds. I imagine leaving them attached so they can dry would work better. You could just leave a few of the spent flower spikes on and let them self seed, but I don't know what the success rate is of that process. I'm sure it depends on your hardiness zone, the winter weather, how many birds eat the seeds compared to how many seeds actually hit the ground, the germination rate, other foraging animals, and so forth. According to www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-grow-salvia-from-seed-in-your-garden#how-to-grow-and-care-for-salvia: "...at the end of the season, leave the last flowers on to encourage re-seeding and provide food for the birds." It would be a good experiment to try though! I'm thinking you would have to protect the area and thin them out if a lot of the seeds germinate closely to each other. I'd love to hear your results if you do try it!
@@GrowingHomeGardening Here in Vero Beach Florida there is no winter to speak of. In the first year it seemed they would elf seed. Now they are getting tall, stalky and not self seeding as much. I was going to try to plant some of the "seeds" and see if that works.
@@edwardpriore9318 hi Edward, just coming back to see if you ended up trying that and if it worked for you. I have noticed mine have self seed a couple plants nearby, so it spread, but not overwhelmingly like a weed.
Do the ends you cutoff contain the seeds? If so can you plant what you cutoff in the same bed son new flowers are always coming up and keeping the bed full looking? TY
I haven't tried doing that, but yes, the spent flower spikes contain the seeds. I imagine leaving them attached so they can dry would work better. You could just leave a few of the spent flower spikes on and let them self seed, but I don't know what the success rate is of that process. I'm sure it depends on your hardiness zone, the winter weather, how many birds eat the seeds compared to how many seeds actually hit the ground, the germination rate, other foraging animals, and so forth. According to www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-grow-salvia-from-seed-in-your-garden#how-to-grow-and-care-for-salvia:
"...at the end of the season, leave the last flowers on to encourage re-seeding and provide food for the birds."
It would be a good experiment to try though! I'm thinking you would have to protect the area and thin them out if a lot of the seeds germinate closely to each other. I'd love to hear your results if you do try it!
@@GrowingHomeGardening Here in Vero Beach Florida there is no winter to speak of. In the first year it seemed they would elf seed. Now they are getting tall, stalky and not self seeding as much. I was going to try to plant some of the "seeds" and see if that works.
@@edwardpriore9318 hi Edward, just coming back to see if you ended up trying that and if it worked for you. I have noticed mine have self seed a couple plants nearby, so it spread, but not overwhelmingly like a weed.