Salvia ‘Blue By You’

* Common name: Meadow sage ‘Blue By You’ 

* Botanical name: Salvia nemerosa x Salvia pratensis ‘Blue by You’

* What it is: Salvias are usually repeat bloomers, but this 2023 introduction from Darwin Perennials can keep blooming on and off from May through frost – especially if you’re good about deadheading the spent flowers.

   ‘Blue By You’ is a winter-hardy, heat-tough perennial that produces long spires of blue-purple flowers… and lots of them.

   The flowers attract bees and hummingbirds, but deer and rabbits don’t like salvias at all. It’s one of the few perennials that both of those will almost never touch.

   ‘Blue By You’ performed well enough in national trials that it earned a 2023 All-America Selections award.

* Size: 20 to 24 inches tall. Plant two feet apart.

* Where to use: Perennial borders, sunny foundations, rock gardens and any hot, sunny spot. Mixes well with many other perennials or can be grouped in a mass by itself for impact.

* Care: Fertilize in early spring with a granular, organic or long-acting flower fertilizer. Snip off flower stalks to the ground after bloom to encourage new flower shoots. Cut foliage to ground after frost kills it in fall or in early spring before new growth begins.

* Great partner: Most any rose or ornamental grass pairs well with salvia. Pink coneflowers and pink phlox are two good summer-blooming perennial partners.