Salvia guaranitica 'Amante'

Salvia guaranitica 'Amante' on low water in June 2022. Photo: SK Reid. 

Summary

UC Davis is located in Davis, California, this site has a silty clay loam soil and plants are irrigated with potable water. More information about the field sites is located in the Nuts & Bolts section.

A newer hybrid Salvia guaranitica, ‘Amante’ is known for its rich fuchsia-colored flowers; most S. guaranitica flowers are some shade of purple or violet. This cultivar was chosen as a comparison cultivar to ‘Amistad’. Due to difficulties sourcing material and a truncated timeframe, we had to use 4”-sized pots which is smaller than our minimum #1 gallon. We use #1 as our minimum size as we have found this is the size which most plants will typically be successful, with smaller plant sizes having mixed results. The bold vivid flowers on ‘Amante’ were eye-catching in the field. Flowering started in June with all plants flowering by July. Flowering increased throughout the season, other than a slight dip in September. Mean flowering scores in October for all three treatments were the highest of the season for this cultivar. Maintenance for ‘Amante’ included cutting back stems at the end of the first season after frost had occurred. One criticism that we had of ‘Amante’ was its relatively sparse, open habit as the plants grew over the season (Photo 19b). This could be due to the initial 4” planting size; potentially a #1-sized plant with more stems may have filled out. Anecdotally, observing those who were able to dig up plants at the end of the trials to ‘re-home’ them, the ‘Amante’ crowns that were dug up had at least doubled in size by the end of their second year in the ground. Considering the growth habit of other similar Salvia species, it’s possible that given a larger input size or additional time in the ground, ‘Amante’ would fill out. This open canopy did no favors for the foliage, which was showing its age by September and meant that any browning or discoloration were on full display. However, an unseasonable rainstorm occurred in mid-September which, combined with cooler temperatures, we hypothesize is the reason for scores bouncing back in October. Based on the trial results, we recommend Amistad on WUCOLS Low category of water needs in Region 2.

Basic Info

Growth and Quality Data

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Close up of Salvia guaranitica 'Amante' flowers on low water in June 2022, photo SK Reid.