Pink Dawn opens a cloud of sizable cotton-candy pink flowers from fuchsia buds on purplish stems. Well-branched flower stems help it bloom a bit longer than many other pink salvias.
It flowers from late spring into early summer on an upright clump under 2 feet tall. Shear it after the first flush for more color. Bees and hummingbirds visit often, and the aromatic leaves keep deer and rabbits away.
What it looks like
Branched, upright flower spikes 5 to 7 inches long covered in small two-lipped florets in soft cotton-candy pink, with deeper fuchsia buds toward the tips and purplish stems. Spikes are numerous and airy above the foliage. Leaves are lance-shaped, 2 to 3 inches long, green, aromatic and crinkled. The plant is an upright clump 16 to 20 inches tall and wide. At peak it looks like a soft pink haze of spires with darker tips.
Growing it with lavender
Salvia wants the same full sun and lean, well-drained soil as lavender, and its upright spikes echo lavender's form while filling the gap before and after the main lavender bloom.
Care
Plant in full sun in average, well-drained soil; it is drought tolerant once established. Hardy in zones 3-8; shear the plant back by about a third after the first flush fades to encourage fresh growth and another round of flowers.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Salvia
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Flower color: Cotton-candy pink from fuchsia buds
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Foliage: Green
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Growth habit: Upright clump
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Mature size: 16–20 in tall × 16–20 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–8
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Light: full sun
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Bloom start: Late-May
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Peak bloom: Mid-June
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Bloom pattern: Repeat Blooming
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Deer resistance: Resistant
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Pollinator value: Excellent
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.