Salvia Feathers Flamingo ('Bocoffla')

BlueBirder

Does anyone grow this plant?

I can't find any consistent information about it on the internet. 

It is described on Crocus as being 'Fully Hardy' and yet on RHS is given a rating of H3. Elsewhere on the internet it is given ratings H7 and H5.

Some sites suggest it is a cultivar of Salvia nemorosa, some that it is a hybrid of S. nemorosa and S. jurisicii. 

Any thoughts? 

Fire

I can't speak to the parentage, but salvias are often given widely different hardiness ratings in the UK - companies widely differ in their estimation. I've seen this often with Greggii types, for example - one plant described as hardy or tender, depending on the site.

 I personally find RHS pretty useless in their detailing. They cover all bases to cover their butts, just in case. It seems Crocus (and other big firms) under-estimate risk in the effort to flog all they can. And the RHS over-estimate in an effort to not be caught out.

As a last thought, I can imagine some cultivars are so new that nobody is yet sure how they cope with cold or UK conditions - Aberdeen to Essex.

GardenerSuze

@BlueBirder You could take a look at Middletons Salvias on line if anyone knows their salvias they do!

Plantminded

According to the plant patent the hardiness rating is "At least U.S.D.A zones 4-10."  (Seems a very wide range to me!)

US Patent for plant named ‘Bocoffla’ Patent (Patent # PP 34,083 issued March 29, 2022) - Justia Patents Search

One of the parents is identified as S. jurisicii, the other as "unknown".

It's probably best to treat it as tender and take cuttings later in the year as a safeguard.

Hope this helps.

punkdoc

Reading the patent, the plant has not been around long enough for any true idea of hardiness to be obtained. I would treat as fully tender.

BlueBirder

In case anyone stumbles across this thread looking for info, an update in Feb 2023 after a hard winter - the salvia didn't make it. A beautiful plant but I'd say H3 is a good estimation.

JennyJ

Are you sure? It's a herbaceous perennial type so it dies back in winter and regrows from below ground level in the spring. I wouldn't expect it to be showing new growth yet.

Edit: https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/salvia-feathers-flamingo-bocoffla-pbr/classid.2000045056/ 

If last year's dead growth is still there, leave it alone for another month or so (maybe more if you live somewhere cold) because it gives a bit of protection to the crown.

BlueBirder

@JennyJ 99% sure. It looks like it's rotted and a gentle investigation of the rootball has shown that it's basically non-existent. But I'll keep hoping - I did really love it and it flowered absolutely non-stop for the entire summer. Worth getting again actually, and taking cuttings.

JennyJ

oh dear, a rotted crown doesn't sound promising. has it been sitting in poorly-drained wet soil? Most salvias like well-drained conditions so if you try again, you could maybe improve the soil and plant it on a slight mound.

JennyJ

I'm tempted to look out for that one come spring/summer - it's a very pretty colour.

BlueBirder

@JennyJ I think it has - although it looked OK before the very cold spell we had. Up here, the low temps were followed by days of semi-frozen rain and the compost was pretty waterlogged, but drainage was impeded by frozen pockets. If I try again, I'll add some grit to the soil and try raising it - thank you!