I’m not positive of the identity of this plant–it doesn’t look like most of the photos of Salvia hians, but there are a few photos I’ve seen that match it. Salvia pratensis was also suggested by a plant identification app. This plant was one of several that Fuchsia Society member Sally Abella passed to me from her garden. It has spread somewhat agressively around my garden, but because it is easy to weed out and has a lot of positive merits, I’ve never resented it enough to eradicate it entirely.

The leaves of these plants are large and hairy, but not fully felted like some of the Salvia clan. They form a loose rosette and then impressive, multi-branched spikes of blue-purple flowers shoot up in late June to crown the plants for a month or more.

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My 2020 plans for this plant are to weed it out where it might be unwanted and nurture it everywhere else.