The Skyscraper Salvias

Salvia ‘Skyscraper Orange’ with its unusual hood

Salvia is a complex family, so Salvia hybrids tend to have complicated backstories. However, if we had to guess, we’d say the Skyscraper series blends the vibrant colors and season-long bloom cycle of the Vistas, the growing habit of ‘May Night’, and the showy blooms of ‘Black & Blue’ into a single package. As a series, it doesn’t fit onto one of the standard pegs we assign to the Salvias.

If you haven’t seen anything quite like the Skyscrapers, that’s because the series is brand new to the market, just released by Selecta One in 2019. It comes in three colors: Dark Purple, Orange, and Pink, but the breeding team hopes to add more colors to the list.

Skyscrapers have traits fround in each of the three types of Salvia: annual, perennial, and decor. To understand the series, it’s best to sit in the middle of the triangle rather than at one of the corners to grasp how each of those traits contributes to the sum total of the plant. Let’s take a look.

Exotic ‘Castor Bean’ is the largest plant we grow

If you’re curious as to which plant is the biggest one we grow, it’s the ‘Castor Bean’. Amy is posing by a single leaf from last year’s specimen. By the end of September it had grown 12 to 15 feet in height.

Signature seedpods are extra spiky

As it matured, the plant developed its characteristic seedpods in the center underneath the big canopy—they resemble extra-spiky chestnut seedpods. These followed the red female flowers that grew above the cream-colored male flowers on the same plant.

This woody stem represents just one year’s growth!

Remember that this woody stem represents a single season of growth because the plant is not hardy to Cincinnati. Truly the most amazing aspect of this bold, exotic-looking plant with the broad purple-red leaves is the sheer speed of its growth.

‘Castor Bean’ is available in the one-gallon pot.

Sprigs represent the beginning of a garden

A lot of people plant gardens with a spreadsheet, or perhaps a pencil and paper. We like to begin with a bouquet of sprigs, which lets us see how the colors and textures of both foliage and flowers play off of each other. Here is a clear-cut example of a favorite technique, using two contrasts that cut across each other:

COLOR—the dark Begonia leaves contrast with the light Coleus color


TEXTURE—the thin reedy stems of the Cyperus contrast with the wide leaves of the Coleus and the thicker, fleshier ones of the Begonia

You can see how the colors and textures line up

We like the way the red Begonia flower accents the whole ensemble, and we get an added bonus from the yellow eye connecting with the bright Coleus. These plants organize themselves into a three-step staircase that can be used in nearly any shade of garden bed:

• Begonia ‘Cocktail Vodka’ is the lowest step.
• 
Coleus ‘Wasabi’ is the middle step.

• Cyperus ‘King Tut’ serves as the highest step.


Begonia ‘Cocktail Vodka’ comes in the 1801L tray and the 6 and 8-inch pot sizes. Coleus ‘Wasabi’ is available in the 1801L, 4.5, 6, and 8-inch pots. Cyperus ‘King Tut’ comes in the 4.5-inch and 1-gallon pot sizes.