Salvia madrensis Blooms + Bonus Orchid Spikes

A few years ago I bought a Salvia madrensis plant from the local nursery only to have it never make it to its late fall/winter blooming period as it ended up being nipped by a freeze. This year our very warm fall, soon-to-be winter, has allowed a new plant I bought earlier this year to actually spike and begin blooming. While a lot of the garden is attempting to rest, many plants are trucking along, though a bit weary. Salvia madrensis is not weary, as you can tell, and is rather lovely. I know eventually winter will catch up with us (I think?!) and it will move on into the compost pile, however I think I’m going to see if I can take a cutting or find a runner that has rooted and see if I can carry it on for next year.

In other happy news, several of my Phalaenopsis orchids at work are sending out spikes. Being battered by sub-freezing temperatures in the office for a week last February didn’t help them out and I managed to keep most of them happy and alive, losing only one or two plants a few months post-freeze. Regular watering (every 7-10 days) and the occasional top off with orchid fertilizer has been the key to keeping them happy. And I constantly peruse the clearance orchids at Kroger for something new and unusual. I really need to take photos of the ones when they bloom so I have an idea on color and type and don’t buy the same ones again. All have come without any kind of ID so they are just NOID phals and that’s that!