{"product_id":"bishy-barnabees-cottage-garden-salvia-violet-queen","title":"Salvia Violet Queen","description":"\u003cp\u003eDense erect spikes of intense violet-purple on sturdy stems at 45 to 60cm, and about as strong a natural vertical as any perennial will give you. Unusually, it flowers in its first year from an early sowing rather than making you wait until year two.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is a genuine long-term plant. Hardy well below anything Britain produces, the crown expands each year, and a clump gives more spikes and better structure for a decade or more.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCold is not what kills it. Winter wet is.\u003c\/strong\u003e It needs free-draining ground, and on clay it wants generous grit in the planting hole, a slight slope or a raised bed. That single decision determines whether it lasts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo optional tricks. Cut the developing stems back by a third in late May and you get shorter, sturdier spikes that flower a little later, which is worth doing in an exposed garden. And shear the whole plant to the ground when the first flush finishes in August; it regrows and throws a second flush in September and October, when a good deal else is over.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bishy Barnabees Cottage Garden","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53195300241741,"sku":"SAL-VLQ","price":2.65,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0828\/6961\/6973\/files\/3FA5D848-E075-4A3A-BD5D-A664F471C019_6f628257-a1b6-4918-922f-3fe1c0cb08fc.jpg?v=1773344033","url":"https:\/\/thefoalyard.co.uk\/products\/bishy-barnabees-cottage-garden-salvia-violet-queen","provider":"The Foalyard","version":"1.0","type":"link"}