MEET THE 2024 PERENNIAL OF THE YEAR^™ – ‘PINK PROFUSION’ SALVIA

TOP 3 REASONS TO GROW ‘PINK PROFUSION’ SALVIA

The Name Says It All
You truly will see a profusion of flashy pink blooms from late spring into fall with this prolific perennial salvia.

POLLINATORS ADORE IT
If one of your garden goals is to better support your local pollinator populations, this is the plant for you.

RABBITS AND DEER DESPISE IT
Fragrant, rugged foliage takes this plant off the menu for these four-legged garden pests.

Contributors: Susan Martin

Deer and rabbit resistant – check! Attracts pollinators – check! Long blooming – check! This prolific salvia checks all the boxes that make it one of the most outstanding perennials for landscapes. You’ll enjoy multiple waves of vibrant pink flowers from late spring to fall with this award winning hardy perennial.

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted in a Perennial

Flashy pink flowers held by deep pink calyxes that hold their color even after the blooms drop
Loved by pollinating bees, butterflies and hummingbirds
Tidy, densely mounded, herbal scented foliage
Long blooming from late spring into fall
Prefers full sun, meaning 6+ hours of sun per day
Measures 14-16″ tall x 16-20″ wide
Cold hardy perennial for USDA zones 3-8

Lots of perennials are beautiful, but few check more boxes than ‘Pink Profusion’ perennial salvia. Some of its most desirable qualities include being long blooming, highly attractive to pollinators and hummingbirds, and completely uninteresting to both deer and rabbits. Add in that it’s easy to grow and tolerant of all-day sun, and this just might become your favorite new plant in your landscape.

All perennial salvias bloom heavily in late spring to early summer, but it’s a rare treat to see one blooming in the middle of the summer. ‘Pink Profusion’ was bred to bloom in multiple waves from spring into fall, so it won’t ever leave an empty spot in your garden for long. A quick shearing between each cycle of blooms will encourage new flowers to form even faster. This is truly a revolutionary plant!

HOW TO GROW 'PINK PROFUSION' SALVIA

PLANTING

Look around your landscape to find a spot where there is abundant sunshine but the sprinkler won’t soak the plant every single day. That’s a good place to grow ‘Pink Profusion’ salvia. This is a sun-loving perennial that only needs average moisture and prefers to dry out a bit before it gets watered again. Its tough constitution means no pampering is necessary, so save your energy for more needy plants. This one can handle the sun, moderate drought and critter pressure all on its own.

Choose a location that receives a bare minimum of six hours of sun per day with most of that coming in the afternoon. Perennial salvia does not need any shade, even in warm climates. Too much shade, water, or rich soil will make the plant weaker and therefore prone to rot, pest and disease issues.

‘Pink Profusion’ salvia is a durable perennial that can be planted in either spring or fall, but you are more likely to find it in garden centers in the spring. If the roots are densely circled around when you take it out of the pot, loosen them up a bit to break the “root memory”. This will encourage them to grow outward instead of continuing to grow in a circular pattern.

No special soil is needed for this plant to thrive. However, if you garden in heavy clay, it’s a good idea to amend with shredded bark or soil conditioner to help it drain better, or to plant your salvia “high”, or at the top of a slope. Any soil amendments you use should total less than one-third of the soil used to backfill the hole. It would be detrimental to the plant to only use “good” soil in the hole when backfilling.

A good rule of thumb is to dig your hole twice as wide and just as deep as the plant’s rootball. When you backfill the hole, press the soil down with your hand firmly to remove any big air pockets around the roots. Then, water the plant to help the soil settle around it.

The first season while your new salvia is getting established, it will need a little more water than in subsequent years. Once its roots are anchored in, they will be able to seek the available moisture from the soil, making the plant more self-sufficient.

MAINTENANCE

Once you have ‘Pink Profusion’ salvia planted in the right place, little care will be needed. The most critical maintenance to perform to get the most out of the plant is to shear back the flower spikes after each wave of bloom subsides. Doing so will help it to rebloom faster.

Expect the first round of flowers to appear in late spring to early summer and last a number of weeks before they start to look tired. Once all the flower spikes are finished, use a clean pair of scissors or pruners to clip them all back at once to the top of the mounded foliage. This will help the plant focus on producing a fresh new round of blooms after taking a short break. Repeat this step after each wave of flowers is finished and you’ll see blooms all season.

No fertilizer is necessary unless you garden in very sandy soil that is nearly completely devoid of nutrients. In such a case, slow release plant food like Espoma’s Plant-tone^® can be applied in spring once the plant begins to grow. No other plant food should be needed.

Try not to give your perennial salvia too much love. Overwatering or overfeeding can lead to its demise. If your plant is yellowing, stretching or flopping, it is likely getting too many nutrients, not enough sun, or too much water.

In late fall, shear the plant back to the ground to make room for the new growth. If you live in a mild climate, some of the foliage that hugs the ground may stay green during the winter, in which case it can be left alone and the new foliage will fill out over it in the spring.

Because of its aromatic foliage, deer and rabbits usually do not bother with perennial salvia. If slugs or snails become a problem, an organic product like Sluggo^® can be sprinkled around the base of the plant to help control their population.

COMPANION PLANTS

When deciding what to plant with your new salvia, the most important thing is to look for plants that enjoy similar growing conditions—namely, plants that prefer full sun, average to lower moisture levels and well-drained soil.

You might decide to dress up one of your garden beds to really make it shine in late spring to early summer. In that case, plant ‘Pink Profusion’ with other varieties of salvia and other perennials that bloom around the same time like ‘Paint the Town Magenta’ Dianthus and Decadence^® Baptisia. That will give you the look you see pictured below.

‘Pink Profusion’ growing with Decadence baptisia

Since ‘Pink Profusion’ salvia reblooms throughout the season, you won’t be limited to spring blooming companions. It may take a bit of experimenting in your garden to find other perennials that are timed to bloom with each wave of salvia flowers since it varies by climate. A few to try that flower later in the season include ‘Serendipity’ Allium, Color Coded^® ‘The Price is White’ coneflower and ‘Drops of Jupiter’ ornamental oregano.