Evolution® Violet Salvia Seeds

All-America Selections (AAS) Winner 2006

Fleuroselect Novelty Award Winner 2002

This is far and away the best mealycup sage ever grown, and it deserves a big planting in your sunniest garden spot. Evolution really is a whole new generation for salvia, with richer blooms, better branching, more compact plants, superb weather resistance, and an extra-long season of bloom. No wonder it won both Europe's Fleuroselect Quality Mark and the U.S.'s All-America Selections, the two top honors for seeds.

Every 8- to 10-inch bloomstalk on these sturdy little plants is packed with deep violet-purple blooms, far brighter and less prone to fading than older varieties. They begin in early to midsummer and keep going right into fall, extending your season of color in the sage garden by several weeks. And talk about low maintenance—this plant puts up with bad weather from heat and humidity to drought and unseasonable cold. It's unstoppable.

Evolution is actually a perennial, but it overwinters only in the frost-free areas of zones 8-10, so I recommend growing it as an annual and enjoying a gorgeous new crop every year. Salvia farinacea is native to North America, so you will find Evolution free from most pests and diseases, and right at home in just about any climate from north to south, east to west.

Give Evolution full sunshine and about a 8 to 10 inches of space between plants. It reaches 18 inches high and about 14 inches wide in most settings. Easy and so lovely.