This reliable cultivar adds rich blue tones to the Herbaceous Island Beds.
The genus Salvia is invaluable in the garden, numbering over 900 species of annuals, biennials, perennials and shrubs. In all species the flowers are 2-lipped, with an erect, hooded upper lip, and a spreading 2-toothed lower lip. It is this characteristic, along with the scented foliage and often square stems which places them in the mint family, Lamiaceae. Salvia x superba is a hardy, herbaceous hybrid of S. nemerosa and S. pratensis. Raised in Germany by Ernst Pagels in 1956, ‘Mainacht’ is a reliable clump-forming cultivar. It has erect terminal racemes of intense indigo-blue flowers produced from early to midsummer, and dead-heading will encourage repeat flowering. The flowers are nectar-rich and highly attractive to bees.