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(Sacred White Sage) Bees, hummingbirds and spiritual blessings are all connected to Salvia apiana, an elegant shrubby sage that is an important herb to indigenous Californians. It deserves a place in salvia gardens that can meet its demands. Stiff and almost fleshy, its leaves are tight rosettes of brilliant, silvery green that is almost white.
(Jammin Jazz Anise-Scented Sage) Deep chocolate calyxes and stems support the large, hot pink flowers of Salvia BODACIOUS® ‘Jammin’ Jazz’. This new cultivar of Salvia guaranitica has heavily veined, bright green foliage that smells a bit like licorice.
(Giant Purple Desert Sage) It’s best to plant this flamboyant native of the Southwest in spring or summer. However, once established, it tolerates winters from USDA Zones 5 to 9. Purple tubular flowers and burgundy bracts flare up its 10-inch flower spikes like flames on this softly rounded shrub.
(Candelabra Spanish Sage) Tall, well-branched spikes display large two-tone blue flowers above a compact shrubby mass of attractive, furry white leaves. When in bloom, this drought-resistant native of Spain will awe every visitor to your garden.
(Cundinamarca Sage) This Colombian Salvia is difficult to obtain outside of its home country. As far as we know, Flowers by the Sea is the first nursery to offer it in the United States.
(Iranian Oil Sage) Butterflies and honeybees are drawn to the long blooming, dusky violet-blue flowers of Salvia atropatana. However, deer say no to its charms, due to its essential oils being less than tasty.
(La Placita Mexican Sage) Large and deep violet, the flowers of this tidy shrub bloom from late summer through fall. La Placita (the public square or small plaza) was collected in the mountains of Hidalgo, Mexico.
(Hummingbird Sage or Pitcher Sage) No sage we grow is more attractive to hummingbirds than this one. Spectacular in all ways, it is one of our favorite Salvias with its fragrant, evergreen foliage and jewel-like flowers and bracts.
(Mister Jules Hybrid Sage) Long, dark, velvety stems contrast dramatically with the deep red flowers of this hybrid, spreading sage from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Arboretum. The parent plants are Mexican Winter Sage (S. holwayi) -- a superior, spreading groundcover or sprawling shrub -- and Cardinal Sage (S. fulgens), which is an upright shrub with large, deep red flowers.
(Golden Girl Sage) Sages can be such tough plants. Many, such as Salvia 'Golden Girl', withstand heat and drought yet have delicate looking blossoms. Golden Girl features yellow flowers with a hint of rosy pink along with dark rose calyxes.
(Elk Bella Rosa Jame Sage) The large, creamy pink and burgundy flowers of this sage are stately in contrast with its deep green, veined, ovate foliage that is pleasantly fragrant. Elk Bella Rosa is as elegant as its name implies. It's also long blooming.
('Blue Seniorita' Mexican Sage) Smallish rich cobalt blue flowers come in large clusters on this unusually strong growing shrub. From late summer through fall you and the hummingbirds will be delighted with this rare variety.
(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.
(Byron's Mexican Sage) One of our favorite Mexican Sages, this large variety is reputed to be a hybrid between Salvia mexicana and S. hispanica -- a species of Chia Sage.
(Glow Peach Mountain Sage) Long blooming Salvia microphylla 'Heatwave Glow' produces prolific quantities of soft peach-to-apricot blossoms along with dense, mid-green foliage.
(Anthony Parker Bush Sage) Floriferous spikes of dark blue to purple flowers bloom midsummer to fall on this tidy, mid-height subshrub that grows as wide as it is tall.
(Christine Yeo Sage) A chance hybrid of two Mexican sages --Salvia microphylla and S. chamaedryoides -- Christine Yeo Sage is long blooming and features deep purple flowers with white eyes.
(Forest Fire Tropical Sage) Butterflies love the abundant, fire engine red flowers of this mostly annual sage. It's a popular cultivar of one of the first Salvias used for ornamental purposes -- Tropical Sage. The flowers are dramatically framed by reddish black bracts.
(Vermilion Bluffs® Mexican Sage) The brilliant red flowers of Vermilion Bluffs bloom abundantly from August to October. This variety of the Mexican native Salvia darcyi is cold hardy to Zone 5b at altitudes up to 5,500 feet.
(Dominican Sage) Native to Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, this candelabra-shaped, perennial sage may have inspired the design of the menorah, (Exodus 37:17). It is a tough, drought-resistant plant with silver-haired foliage and bright white flowers that seem to blaze.
Results for flowers from the blog
| Hummingbirds in the Garden |
| 1. Ten Favorite Flowers for Butterflies and Hummingbirds |
| Flowers that butterflies and hummingbirds favor are rich sources of nectar. But not all nectar-rich butterfly favorites are easy to access with long hummingbird beaks. Conversely, many flowers designed by nature to attract hummingbirds don't have the structure necessary for feeding butterflies or providing a perch. Here are ten Salvias and companion plants for backyard wildlife habitat that both butterflies and hummingbirds will enjoy. |
| 2. 6 Indispensable Hummingbird Flowers for Long, Easy Bloom |
| Hummingbirds are like tiny combat jets dive bombing each other when staking claim to the nectar-rich flowers they need for survival. Fights over nectar habitat can reduce hummingbird gardens to single occupancy. FBTS Farm and Online Nursery details and tells stories about its top six hummingbird flowers. Plant lots of them to accommodate a village of hungry hummers. |
| Salvia Small Talk |
| 3. Salvia Small Talk: Why Birds Love Red Flowers |
| Color, shape and smell are characteristics that affect whether a bird or insect will dive into a flower in search of food. Whereas bees seem not to notice red at all, it is the go-to color that most birds look for at mealtime. |
| 4. Salvia Small Talk: Cooking with Salvia Flowers |
| Some kinds of Salvia flowers make good additions to foods ranging from breads to salads. Growing the Salvias yourself is a good way to avoid toxins. |
| Sage Words About Wildlife |
| 5. How to Find Food for the Bees at Flowers by the Sea |
| Forgive the bad pun, but we almost wouldn't be without bees. These tiny pollinators make it possible for us to eat and experience the flowering beauty of the world around us. Honeybees -- the kind managed by beekeepers -- and thousands of wild species pollinate at least one-third of the plant species we eat. At Flowers by the Sea we've decided to improve our efforts to help the genus Apis . Our first step is to make it easier for you to find plants honeybees frequent by making our catalog easier to search for bee favorites. |
| Salvia Small Talk |
| 6. Salvia Small Talk: Flowers by the Sea Is Monarch Waystation 7671 |
| Flowers by the Sea recently received classification as a certified Monarch Waystation by Monarch Watch. When you purchase milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.) from FBTS or seed from Monarch Watch, you can grow your own waystation and help Monarchs start making a comeback from their precipitous decline of recent years. |
| 7. In the Native Garden: Colorful California Salvias Plus a Cousin |
| Native plants, including California's many indigenous sages, are like the boys or girls next door who were overlooked until outsiders discovered their good looks and other fine attributes. Flowers by the Sea grows hardy, drought-resistant California Salvias that are native to a broad swath of the West Coast ranging from Northern Baja to Southern Oregon. Many tolerate heat. They are well suited to waterwise landscapes, including dry gardens. |
| 8. Texas and Southwestern Native Plants for Butterflies, Honeybees and Hummingbirds |
| Many gardeners and wildlife lovers in states with recurrent drought choose to increase the number of native plants in their yards. This is especially true of Texas, where statewide drought began in 2010 and hasn't yet abated. Native plants appeal to local wildlife, including pollinators. To help gardeners from Texas and the Southwest who want to create wildlife habitat, Flowers by the Sea (FBTS) suggests Salvias appropriate for Texas and Southwest gardens. |
| 9. A Community of Anise Scented Sages We Adore |
| You might expect the foliage of a plant called Anise-Scented Sage (Salvia guaranitica) to smell robustly like licorice, which shares the same fragrance as anise. Some gardeners detect a hint of licorice after crushing a leaf, but many say the foliage merely smells sweet. These popular sages are native to Brazil where indigenous peoples used their leaves as a medicine. Flowers by the Sea grows many varieties in a wide range of sizes and flower colors |
| Salvias Down South |
| 10. Salvias Down South: 15 Sages to Pink Up Landscapes |
| Winter is a good time for warm thoughts about rosy colors pinking up the landscape. Not only is pink pleasant, but it is soothing. As psychologists discovered in the late 20th century, it's also the color of calm and is used in serenity gardens. Flowers by the Sea details a variety of pink sages here, some of which bloom in winter. |
| Sage Words About Wildlife |
| 11. Sage Words About Wildlife: Hummingbirds Love Lobelias |
| Top-10 lists of hummingbird favorites almost always contain Salvia and Lobelia, because each genus is nectar rich and offers many species in bright reds, oranges and pinks. Hummingbirds have a weak sense of smell, but bright colors, such as those of Lobelias, lure them to flowerbeds. They are particularly devoted to the types grown at Flowers by the Sea. |
| Getting Started with Salvias |
| 12. Getting Started: Salvias for the Rocky Mountain West |
| High altitude, distance from large bodies of water and powerful chinook winds make the Rocky Mountain West a dry gardening environment even in years of higher than average rain and snow. The region's steep mountains have a major impact on where and how precipitation falls. Instead of a single mountain chain, the Rocky Mountains are made up of 100 separate ranges. Similarly, the Salvia genus contains a broad range of sages, many of which thrive in the climactic extremes of the Mountain West. |
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