Mystery plant flowers

Posted Tue 23 June 2020 in garden

The mystery plant that I grew from seed, that was supposed to be Salvia × superba has now flowered. There was little reason to suppose that it was any kind of Salvia although I had come to suspect that it was. I've looked through many pictures of different species and of course it is much easier with flowers open as most pictures focus on the flowers.

Anyway the attractive distinctive blue pattern on the flower lead me to Salvia forsskaolii. All the other attributes of the plant match up, in particular the large basal leaves which are quite unusual for a Salvia, and look quite foxglove like on the young plant.

The way the flowers open is quite strange. On the lowest whorl of flowers two flowers on opposite sides of the stem open. The next whorl up two more flowers open, again opposite, but at right angles to the ones on the whorl below.

Then the two single flowers drop and two flowers side by side open together on opposite sides, so there are four on that whorl. There are more buds stil to open in the lower whorl, so there is more pattern to be revealed but that is where we are at the moment.

Posted by Steve