Welcome to Flowers by the Sea, a family run mail-order plant nursery. We've been supplying gardeners with superior plants for over 25 years. Our plants are large, healthy and guaranteed to please.

The genus Salvia is our specialty, and we have the largest selection in the United States. We currently offer 378 Salvia species, hybrids and varieties - along with numerous outstanding hummingbird, butterfly and bee plants. Our focus is on plants for pollinators.

Each and every one has been extensively tested & evaluated before we list them here. We're proud of the quality of what we grow, and Unconditionally Guarantee your complete satisfaction with everything we sell.

We are now taking orders for spring delivery. Doing your shopping now will insure you have the widest selection, and you choose when your plants will be delivered. We sell out of some of our most popular varieties early every year, so act now to get exactly what you need.

Read what our customers say about our service, quality and selection.

Mr Sage speaks up on Shipping Charges

Dear Mr. Sage,

I'm new to Flowers by the Sea and really like your catalog. But while looking at another online nursery's catalog, I saw that they offer free shipping. But they also charge more than you do for the Salvias I want to buy. Why don't you offer free shipping?

Sincerely,
Careful Shopper

Dear Careful Shopper,

You know what they say about there being no such thing as a free lunch. It's also true that free shipping doesn't exist. We like the New Yorker cartoon published here, because -- pardon the wordplay -- it sums up the myth of free shipping.

Mail order retailers all must find a way to cover the cost of shipping. To paraphrase Shannon Wheeler's cartoon caption, some online nurseries fold the expense of shipping into the cost of they charge for their plants. We don't do that.

Another survival technique is to decrease shipping costs by severely trimming plants to make more fit in small boxes. We don't do that because it harms the quality of plants.

Instead, we created a customized delivery rate schedule with our shipper, UPS. To minimize plant prices for everyone, FBTS shipping fees increase as order size grows and delivery distance from our farm increases. Yet the larger your order is, the smaller our shipping fee is per plant.

FBTS doesn't make money on shipping and tries not to lose it either. "Free shipping" would force us to significantly increase plant prices, because we would never decrease the quality of our plants or delivery system.

We like to think that our solution is a formula for fair pricing.

Thanks so much for your question,

Mr. Sage

How do you grow Salvias?
Read our Everything Salvias Blog!

Our Everything Salvias Blog offers hundreds of detailed articles about sages. You'll find: how-to articles, interviews with Salvia gardeners and experts, landscape design ideas, plant profiles, stories about cooking with sage, shade gardening suggestions, video tutorials and wildlife habitat advice, including tips for bee, butterfly and hummingbird gardening. Getting Started is one of 18 categories you can click on.

Some of the Getting Started with Salvias topics we cover are . . .

Browse all 18 Categories of our Everything Salvias Blog

Visit this site on your desktop for more information.

What's Great Right Now?
New Arrivals & Recently Back in Stock

"Many of these are in very short supply, so act fast if you find something you like!" - Vikki Carter, Nursery Manager

Each week, we walk through the nursery with a clipboard in hands, looking for the best we have to offer. All of the plants listed here are "prime", ready to succeed in your garden. In some cases they are just coming into bloom. Or they may be at the perfect stage to transplant. Or the seasonal foliage color may be at its peak.

In any case, the list changes every week, so check back for the latest and greatest from Flowers by the Sea.

Salvia virgata

$11.50

(Wand Sage) This species ranges from southwest Europe across southern Asia, generally in meadows or Steppe environments. It is also known as Southern Meadow Sage and is a hardy and adaptable herbaceous perennial.

Qty:

Ready to ship immediately - 8 In Stock

Salvia canescens var. daghestanica

$11.50

(Caucasus Sage) This hardy ground cover sage grows 4 to 12 inches tall and 12 inches wide. The velvety white fur of its foliage aids moisture retention. Its soft, royal purple flowers make it stand out. We think this Salvia deserves to spread far and wide.

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Ready to ship immediately - 37 In Stock

Salvia BODACIOUS 'Rhythm and Blues'

$11.50

(Rhythm and Blues Anise-Scented Sage) New for 2017, this variety is a superior version of the older standby 'Black and Blue'. Easy to grow and rewarding, this hummingbird favorite is our very best Anise Scented Sage.

Out of stock

Salvia darcyi x microphylla Windwalker®

$11.50

(Windwalker® Royal Red Salvia) Salvia darcyi x S. microphylla 'PWIN03S' is one of the top 2015 plants for USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 5 selected by Colorado's Plant Select®, a nonprofit organization that focuses on promoting plants for low-water gardens.

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Ready to ship immediately - 5 In Stock

Salvia elegans 'Elk Sonoran Red'

$11.50

(Elk Sonoran Red Pineapple Sage) A new Pineapple Sage variety that has the traditional fruity fragrance but blooms much earlier in the season than the traditionally grown clone. Short and compact, it resembles the varieties 'Honey Melon' and 'Tangerine' size wise, but has the unmistakable aroma of ripe pineapples.

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Salvia coccinea 'Snow Nymph'

$8.00

(Snow Nymph White Tropical Sage) Butterflies, hummingbirds and honeybees enjoy this award winner, which is an outstanding choice for pure white color from June to autumn. This type of Tropical Sage is generally the first to flower for us.

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Ready to ship immediately - 2 In Stock

Salvia x 'Elk Chantily Lace'

$11.50

(Elk Chantily Lace Jame Sage) What color are the flowers of this FBTS introduction? Lavender? Periwinkle? Taffy? Yes to all for this hard to describe but easy to love plant.

Qty:

Ready to ship immediately - 5 In Stock

Cuphea aff. aequipetala

$11.50

(Mexican Loosestrife) The tempting, purple-to-magenta flowers of Cuphea aff. aequipetala attract butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds as well as gardeners who love color. Abundant blossoms flare into six-petal corollas at the end of long, cylindrical flowers.

Qty:

Ready to ship immediately - 5 In Stock

Cuphea 'Minnie Mouse'

$11.50

(Minnie Mouse Ears) Floriferous and heat tolerant, Cuphea 'Minnie Mouse' is also a long-blooming addition to wildlife gardens. Similar to Salvias, Cupheas are rich sources of nectar that fuel hummingbird migration. Bees, butterflies and hoverflies are among the other pollinators that love this genus.

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Salvia macrophylla 'Purple Leaf'

$11.50

(Purple Leaf Tall Big Leaf Sage) Bright green on top, the long leaves of this distinctive sage are a dark, furry purple on the undersides. Like the more typical green form of Salvia macrophylla, this variety has cobalt blue flowers that seem to float in airy clusters on 12-inch-tall branching spikes.

Out of stock

We test every plant before we offer it for sale. Your success is our success. You can be confident that these new introductions are dependable garden plants." - Kermit Carter, General Manager

Change is constant in horticulture. Selecting the best new plants is daunting even in one genus, especially Salvia, which contains about 900 species of true sages worldwide. Our New Arrivals section showcases the latest sages and companions in our online catalog whether new to commercial horticulture or only to our gardens. Please contact us if you have questions or gardening experiences to share about these plants.

Our new introductions & back in stock plants

Salvia x 'Skyscraper Dark Purple'

$11.50

(Skyscraper Dark Purple Sage) Hummingbirds love Salvia x ‘Skyscraper Dark Purple’, which is brand new for 2019, blooms bountifully in shade, and is outstanding as a container plant.

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Lobelia cardinalis 'Queen Victoria'

$11.50

(Queen Victoria Cardinal Flower) Calling all butterfly and hummingbird lovers in areas with chilly winters: This one's for you. Lobelias are well known for attracting pollinators. This one is extremely cold tolerant and even does well in the Rocky Mountain West.

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Agastache mexicana 'Sangria'

$11.50

(Mexican Giant Hyssop) Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds love the nectar of this Agastache’s tubular blossoms that may range from hot pink to the reddish-purple of Sangria. They cluster in whorls on long flower spikes above mid-green, lance-shaped foliage that smells like lemons and is tasty in tea.

Out of stock

Asclepias tuberosa 'Hello Yellow'

$11.50

(Yellow Butterfly Weed) Typically a gold-flowered species, this variety of Butterfly Weed produces flat-topped umbels of tiny, star-shaped flowers atop narrow, lance-shaped leaves. Bright yellow and nectar-rich, they bloom from summer into fall.

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Cuphea blepharophylla

$11.50

(Eyelash-Leaved Cuphea) Bristly white foliage hairs give Cuphea blepharophylla the second part of its botanic name meaning “eyelash leaved.” It’s a Bat-Faced Cuphea with hot pink petal “ears” and a lavender “snout.”

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Ready to ship immediately - 12 In Stock

Marrubium incanum

$11.50

(Silver Horehound) Wooly white hairs on the underside of gray-green foliage help conserve moisture and give this drought resistant groundcover a silvery appearance.

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Ready to ship immediately - 8 In Stock

Asclepias fascicularis

$11.50

(Narrow Leaf Milkweed) It's the fresh, minty green foliage of Asclepias fascicularis -- not its star-like, pink and cream flowers filled with nectar -- that is most valuable to Monarch butterflies.

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Ready to ship immediately - 18 In Stock

Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Red'

$11.50

(Silky Red Bloodflower) Vivid red and gold clusters of tiny, star-shaped flowers contrast handsomely with the dark green, lance-shaped leaves of Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Red." The Monarch Butterfly is drawn to for nectar and as a host plant for its eggs.

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Cantua buxifolia 'White Lightning'

$12.50

(Sacred flower of the Incas) Instead of red flowers, this variety of Cantua buxifolia features long tubular blossoms that are medium yellow with white, trumpet-like corollas. They hang upside down in clusters of 12 or more from mid-green foliage. This long blooming, water-loving South American shrub is popular with hummingbirds and butterflies.

Out of stock

Salvia raymondii ssp. mairanae

$11.50

(Bolivian Mountain Sage) Neon lilac-pink flowers light up the handsome, furry foliage of this distinctive sage from high in the Andes cloud forests. Its large, textured leaves have dark, velvety purple undersides. Unhappy in dry heat, this is a very showy plant for humid climates.

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Ready to ship immediately - 2 In Stock

Salvia VIBE 'Ignition Fuchsia'

$11.50

(VIBE® Ignition Fuchsia Sage) A perfect companion to our Best of Breed 'Ignition Purple', Ignition Fuschia has velvety deep fuschia pink flowers that are rare in a Jame Sage hybrid. They bloom spring to fall for your enjoyment.

Out of stock

Asclepias curassavica 'Apollo Orange'

$11.50

(Orange Bloodflower) Vivid orange and gold clusters of tiny, star-shaped flowers contrast handsomely with the dark green, lance-shaped leaves of Orange Bloodflower. The endangered Monarch Butterfly is drawn to milkweeds including Asclepias curassavica 'Apollo Orange' for nectar and as a host plant for its eggs.

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Salvia x 'Big Blue'

$11.00

(Big Blue Sage) This new seed grown strain can best be described as a much improved Indigo Spires. Deep green leaves and masses of rich deep blue flowers are displayed from early summer till the end of the growing season. This is one of the finest new Salvias to be introduced in years.

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Lepechinia hastata

$11.50

(Baja Pitcher Sage) Adaptable, drought-resistant Lepechinia hastata thrives from full sun to partial shade. This shrubby perennial has intense pink, tubular flowers and gray-green foliage. Its arrow-shaped leaves feature a pleasantly felted texture.

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Ready to ship immediately - 8 In Stock

Salvia aff. hians 'Super Elk Strain'

$14.50

(Himalayan Sage or Kashmir Sage) The word "hians" in Salvia hians means "gaping" and refers to the hanging lip of this sage's flowers, which bloom from late spring through early fall. This may or may not the "true" species as it is described, hence the term aff or affnis in the name, which indicates that this plant is related to, has an affinity to, but is not identical to Salvia hians.

Out of stock

Salvia scutellarioides 'Elk True Blue'

$11.50

(Ground Ivy Sage) The true blue flowers, displayed above the large leaves and spreading habit makes this a very special plant. As a ground cover in shady locations it has no peer. Fast growing and free blooming, it attracts hummingbirds too.

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Ready to ship immediately - 7 In Stock

Salvia cyanescens

$12.50

(Blue Turkish Sage) Large velvety gray-green to white leaves in loose rosettes give this sage a distinctive look as does the celestial violet-blue of its flowers. The blossoms seem much too large for this short sage and its thin, candelabra-branched flower spikes.

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Salvia x 'Elk Orange Spires'

$11.50

(Elk Orange Spires Sage) Similar in habit to the popular 'Scarlet Spires', this new variety from FBTS has large bright orange flowers that are irresistible to hummingbirds. It is more compact and floriferous than 'Scarlet Spires' as well.

Qty:

Ready to ship immediately - 10 In Stock

Salvia x 'Elk Cranberry Red'

$11.50

(Elk Cranberry Red Sage) With larger-than-expected deep red flowers and dark stems, this outstanding new variety from FBTS is without a doubt a "Best of Breed" plant.