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Everything Salvias: Quick Digs

Sometimes you need planting ideas and you need them fast. Quick Digs, our newest category of blog posts, helps you dig into our knowledge and catalog quickly to solve problems, create special gardens and otherwise explore the world of true sages (Salvia spp.) and their companion plants. It takes a central issue, such as weed control, and offers a series of brief articles intended to help you in dealing with it. If you have any concerns or questions that you would like us to explore through Quick Digs posts, please call or send us a message. We'll do our best to dig into what interests you.

Quick Digs: Wintering Over Salvias Indoors

Posted: Sunday, March 18, 2018
Synopsis:

For some gardeners, bringing outdoor plants inside during winter is a practical matter. You want to save money. For others, plants are a bit like pets. You feel tender about your tender perennials and can't bear to think of a lovely sage dying from exposure to harsh weather.  This fourth article in our Quick Digs series on preparation for winter in the Salvia garden suggests ways to overwinter sages indoors.



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Quick Digs: Inventorying Salvias and Tools for Spring Gardening

Posted: Sunday, March 18, 2018
Synopsis:

This is the first article in our new Quick Digs series about preparing for spring in Salvia gardens. As spring approaches and daylight grows longer, first steps for preparing Salvia gardening include recording sages already planted before planning new purchases, repotting cuttings and seedlings, inventorying garden tools and turning the compost heap. When the first new growth arrives, you'll be prepared to remove weeds before they choke sages and other perennials that are re-emerging.



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Quick Digs: Planning a Salvia Garden Calendar

Posted: Sunday, March 18, 2018
Synopsis:

This is our second article in a Quick Digs series about preparing for spring in Salvia (sage) gardens. It's easier to succeed at almost anything if you make plans and set goals before beginning a project. This is certainly true in Salvia gardening. Creating a gardening calendar ensures greater success in planning.



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Quick Digs: Spring Weeds in Salvia Gardens

Posted: Sunday, March 18, 2018
Synopsis:

Weeding is the topic of this fourth article in our Quick Digs series about preparing for spring in Salvia gardens. Getting ready for the emergence of previously planted perennials in spring and for planting new sages (Salvia spp.) requires weeding before amending soil and planting. Then, growing vigorously spreading sages and ones rich in aromatic plant chemicals called terpines can help control weeds.



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Quick Digs: Improving Soil for Spring in Salvia Gardens

Posted: Sunday, March 18, 2018
Synopsis:

This is the fifth article in our Quick Digs series about getting ready for spring in Salvia gardens. The previous post talked about weed control. Now we dig into soil and amendments, which aren't just additions to legal documents. The word also refers to materials added to soil to improve its structure and chemistry. These include organic matter, such as compost, as well as chemical fertilizers and minerals (lime and crushed rock are examples). Choices depend on the plants you want to grow and the current make-up of your garden soil.



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Quick Digs: Using the FBTS Wish List Gift Registry

Posted: Sunday, March 18, 2018
Synopsis:

This third article in our Quick Digs series about preparing Salvia gardens for spring concerns the Flowers by the Sea Wish List for maintaining lists of plants you want and for use as a gift registry. Our Wish List removes the guesswork from gift giving while allowing givers to surprise recipients.



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Quick Digs: Treating Salvias as Bedding Plants

Posted: Thursday, October 24, 2013
Synopsis:

As autumn days become shorter, so does time for protecting all your tender perennial sages (Salvia spp.) that nature designed for warmer winter conditions. This is the fifth and final article in our Quick Digs series on preparation for winter in the Salvia garden. This post acknowledges that sometimes it's better to replant favorites as annuals in spring.



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Quick Digs: Overwintering Salvias in Containers Outdoors

Posted: Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Synopsis:

In chilly climates, such as USDA Cold Hardiness Zones with winter temperatures lower than those of Zone 8, it is difficult for potted plants to survive outdoors when the mercury dips. Soil in containers freezes harder and thaws more rapidly than the ground. This third article in our Quick Digs series on preparation for winter in the Salvia garden discusses how to improve chances of survival when overwintering sages in containers outdoors.



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Quick Digs: Putting Salvias to Bed with Winter Mulch

Posted: Monday, October 14, 2013
Synopsis:

During spring, a heavy coat of fall leaves or wood mulch isn't good for Salvias, because it can cause fungal problems that attack crown and roots. But in winter, organic mulches are ideal for blanketing the foliage and root area of sages. Mulch is particularly useful in protecting protect plant roots against injury from freeze-and-thaw cycles, especially for new fall plantings.This is the second article in our Quick Digs series on preparation for winter in the Salvia garden.



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Quick Digs: Prepping and Overwintering in Salvia Gardens

Posted: Saturday, October 12, 2013
Synopsis:

In autumn, even while the days are bright and balmy, you may be wondering how to help favorite Salvias survive local winter temperatures and freeze-thaw cycles. Although we can't offer you foolproof solutions, we provide ideas in this first article of our Quick Digs series on winter mulching Salvias and overwintering them both outside and indoors.



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Quick Digs: Zone 7 to 9 Salvia Groundcovers Discourage Weeds

Posted: Thursday, September 5, 2013
Synopsis:

This is the fifth article in our Quick Digs series on Salvia groundcovers for minimizing weeds in the garden. Here are four choices for Zones 7 to 9, including one that spreads up to 8 feet.



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Quick Digs: Zone 5-9 Groundcover Gardens for Damp Conditions

Posted: Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Synopsis:

Quick Digs is a serial containing short posts focused on a central issue about Salvia gardening. The topic for the first series is Salvia groundcovers for weed control, and this is the third article.

If you are a Salvia lover facing the difficult scenario of cold winters and damp soil, the sages listed here are right for winter conditions from USDA Zone 5 to 9. All are water-loving, shade-tolerant species and have handsome foliage that adds to landscaping even when the plants aren't blooming. By massing these plants, you gain coverage more rapidly and increase weed deterrence.



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