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(Elk Blue Little Sage) if it were up to us, we would never have named this plant Little Sage. Although it is dainty, it is also one of the most fascinating species we grow. We particularly love its pebbly, oval leaves that are a shiny purple/green on top and a furry white below.
(Cherry Red Mountain Sage) This isn't just another red sage. Brilliant cherry-red flowers with dark purple bracts and cold weather tolerance to USDA Zone 6 make this a valuable landscaping plant.
(Big Orange Mountain Sage) When temperatures are cooler in spring and fall, the persimmon-orange flowers of this large Mountain Sage darken. Gray-green foliage, bright green calyxes and reddish-green stems add to the plant's fascinating look, which mixes well with yellows and blues.
(Starlight Sage) Add sparkle to your dry garden with the pale pastel flowers of this hybrid of two Southern California native plants often seen growing together in the wild — Black Sage (Salvia mellifera) and White Sage (Salvia apiana). Salvia x 'Starlight' is a shrub that blooms early and long, attracting honeybees but not deer.
(Furman's Red Autumn Sage) Selected by noted Texas plantsman W.A. Furman in the 1970s, this hardy Texas native is beautiful and tough withstanding heat, drought and freezing winters. Its flowers, which bloom spring through fall, are a rich, saturated red bordering on magenta.
(Diane's Autumn Sage) Chip Schumacher of Hill Country Gardens in Texas selected this lovely Autumn Sage hybrid, which has handsome foliage and abundant two-tone dark purple flowers. This fine variety is often the first Salvia greggii to bloom in spring.
(Santa Barbara Mexican Bush Sage) This compact Mexican Bush Sage was found in the Santa Barbara garden of Kathiann Brown. It is, without a doubt, the finest short Mexican Bush Sage -- hardy, tough and long blooming. Add drought tolerance and dark, rich purple flowers to its list of merits.
(Celestial Blue Sage) Fast growing and adaptable, this sage is a chance hybrid between Cleveland Sage (Salvia clevelandii) -- also called California Blue Sage -- and California Rose Sage (Salvia pachyphylla). It may also be related to California Purple Sage (Salvia leucophylla).
(Mejorana) In Spanish, Mejorana means ‘marjoram.” Similar to oregano-type Marjoram – another Mint family member -- this sage is used to flavor meat dishes. Our cultivar, which is native to Texas and Mexico, has lovely bluish-purple flowers that bloom summer to fall amid fragrant, fine, furry green foliage.
(Wand Sage) Whorls of deep violet blossoms are cupped by dark bracts on the flower spikes of this mid-height herbaceous sage from Turkey. Its foliage is thick, corrugated and fragrant. This plant is lovely and hardy, so it is surprising that it wasn’t introduced to commercial cultivation until 2007.
(Turkish Cliff Sage) Spring into early summer, Turkish Cliff Sage produces erect, branching flower spikes 24 to 36 inches long that rise from basal foliage. They’re covered with whorls of pale pink blossoms with delicate white markings.
(Double Saw Tooth Sage) Vivid deep violet flowers bloom from summer into fall and contrast prettily with the bright green, rumply foliage of this tall sage from southeastern Mexico. Belgian botanist and orchid lover Jean Jules Linden was the first to record its discovery in 1838, according to records on file at Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
(Siberian Sage) Deep violet flowers surrounded by burgundy bracts form a handsome contrast with the pebbly, mint green foliage of this drought-resistant sage. It comes from the Central Asian steppe, which is similar in climate and geography to America’s high plains.
(Brenthurst Tropical Sage)Tropical Sage is popular as an annual throughout America and as a perennial in warm zones. It is particularly beloved in the Deep South where it withstands heat, wind, heavy rains and excessive humidity to bloom prolifically season after season. Brenthurst is a coral-flowered cultivar with dramatic, dark bracts and bright green, heart-shaped leaves.
(Iranian Sage) Mixed in with short perennials that bloom over a wide range of seasons, Salvia staminea makes an attractive contribution to short borders during its summer bloom time. Our strain has dark bracts surrounding pastel white-to-blue-to-lavender flowers. The dark green, branching foliage has oblong to oval-shaped leaves.
(Russell's Mexican Sage) Expect rapid, tall growth from this Salvia Mexicana . In the ground, Russell’s Mexican Sage can reach up to 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide, providing an effective screen of dark green, heart-shaped foliage. By late autumn it’s bursting with flowers.
(Eig's Sage)Bicolor ruby and pale pink flowers bloom winter to spring on this small sage that is native to Northern Israel. Salvia eigii is at home in the silty, gravelly loam of low fallow fields near rivers. So it does best in rich soil aerated with plenty of humus.
(Eyelash Sage) All Salvia blepharophylla varieties are native to Mexico, but this one was hybridized in Germany by plant breeder Christiaan Unger. Hairs on the edge of the sageâs dark green leaves give it the appearance of having eyelashes. It is a compact, slightly mounding Salvia that spreads gradually by underground stolons.
(san ye shu wei cao) So what do all those Pinyin words mean in this sage’s common name? We’ll give you an answer to the best of our ability in a minute. Meanwhile, we need to note that this medicinal Asian sage has handsome foliage and deep violet flowers.
(Gayle Nielson Hybrid Sage) Whorl-like clusters of violet-blue flowers on slender stems as well as its height and width indicate that Gayle Nielson Hybrid Sage is related to some form of Salvia clevelandii.
(Nodding Sage) "Dancing in the air" is how garden writer Joseph Tychonievich describes the tall, graceful flower spikes of Nodding Sage, which can tower up to 5 feet tall over the plant's 18-inch-tall foliage during the summer flowering season.
(Salmon Autumn Sage) Creamy salmon-colored flowers with white throats make this elegant Autumn Sage perfect for a pastel garden or as a cooling color in a mixed sage border. Bloom time is spring into fall for this petite Salvia greggii native to the American Southwest and Mexico.
(VIBE® Ignition White Sage) Never before have we seen such a pure white among the species to which Jame Sages are related. We love this purity as well as the bright green calyxes supporting the large flowers of Elk White Ice and giving it an overall crisp look.
(Elk Butter Light Jame Sage) "Clear" is how we describe the translucent quality of Elk Butter Light's creamy yellow blossoms, which are supported by bright green calyxes. Unlike the green-tinged flowers of Elk Lemon Light Jame Sage, these blossoms are paler and one pure color.
(Elk Cotton Candy Jame Sage) Rosy hairs on the upper lip and pale white throats highlight the translucent, blush pink blossoms of Elk Cotton Candy Jame Sage. Dark, deeply contrasting calyxes support the medium-size flowers.
Results for tolerant from the blog
| New at FBTS |
| 1. New at FBTS: Salvia x 'Ultra Violet' Defies Heat and Cold |
| In the Rocky Mountain West, conditions can swing from hellishly hot, dry summers to freezing cold winters. Many Southwestern Salvias are ideal for the sunbaked summers but have trouble surviving chilly Zone 5 winters. So we appreciate the cold hardiness as well as the drought resistance of one of our newest hybrid cultivars, Ultra Violet Hybrid Sage ( Salvia lycioides x greggii ‘Ultra Violet’). |
| 2. New at FBTS: Vermilion Bluffs ® Mexican Sage |
| A 'mass of scarlet awesomeness' is one way that Denver Botanic Gardens Senior Curator Panayoti Kelaidis describes Vermilion Bluffs® Mexican Sage (Salvia darcyi 'Pscarl') at his Prairie Break website. Unlike so many Southwestern sages, Vermilion Bluffs is surprisingly cold hardy as well as being drought tolerant. Its common name is taken from the spectacular red bluffs of the Vermillion Basin Wilderness in Northwestern Colorado, an area redolent with the scent of sage on hot days. But the plant is native to the Nuevo Leon area of Mexico's eastern Sierra Madre Occidental mountains. The story of how its parent plant arrived at Denver Botanic Gardens (DBG) and, eventually, at Flowers by the Sea is one of diaspora. |
| Sage Words About Wildlife |
| 3. 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. |
| Salvia Small Talk |
| 4. Salvia Small Talk: Deadheading Deciduous or Semi-Evergreen Soft Stem Sages |
| Deadheading (removing) withered blossoms from deciduous soft stem sages like Mexican Bush Sage makes them look tidy and repeat bloom during the growing season. Soft stem means a sage has no woody growth. |
| 5. Salvia Small Talk: Deep Watering vs. Sprinkling |
| Sprinkling is the fine, misguided art of giving your landscape a quick spray of water that moistens foliage as well as soil. This can cause foliar diseases, such as mildew, while also depriving roots of sufficient water. What a perennial needs is a long gulp applied to the ground and at the edge of its canopy or drip line |
| Hummingbirds in the Garden |
| 6. 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. |
| Ask Mr. Sage |
| 7. Ask Mr. Sage: What Size Pot Is Best for Transplanting Sages? |
| After your Salvias from Flowers by the Sea arrive, what size pots should you transplant them in for your container garden? The answer depends on the kind of sages you need to transplant. Ask Mr. Sage is a regular feature in our FBTS Everything Salvias Blog that answers customer questions about growing sages and companion plants. |
| Hummingbirds in the Garden |
| 8. Bat-Faced Beauty: Gardeners & Hummingbirds Love Cuphea schumannii |
| Most bat faces only look beautiful to their mothers. However bat-faced Cuphea schumannii seems pretty as punch to hummingbirds in search of a sweet drink of nectar. If you take a close look at the ragged, open end of each flower, you'll see two, tiny, lavender petals standing straight up like bat or mouse ears. So, despite its common name, Orange Cigar Plant, this species is known as a bat-faced Cuphea. Aside from being excellent for attracting pollinators, Cupheas are becoming important agricultural crops that reduce pesticide use. |
| 9. Battles in the Salvia Garden: Controlling Spider Mites - Part I |
| Salvias often suffer when spider mites become legion in gardens. This is Part 1 of a two-part series about understanding and overcoming these dangerous pests. As summer temperatures rise, so do the numbers of the family Tetranychidae -- spider mites -- especially if conditions are dry. Controlling spider mites in your Salvia garden may be as simple as keeping plants hydrated and regularly spraying the little nippers off foliage. Or it may take a number of interventions, including biological controls, such as predatory mites, as well as the use of insecticidal soaps, oils and pesticides |
| 10. Blazing Red Sages for Sun and Partial Shade |
| Warm colors tend to take center stage in a landscape as well as brightening the shade. Yet warm colors generally aren't associated with shady sage (Salvia) gardens, because there are far more shade-tolerant sages in the blue to purple range. So we decided to poke around our catalog and pull together some hot choices that thrive in partial shade. To make landscaping even easier, you may want to limit your choice of plants to one color. Massing is dramatic. |
| Book Reviews |
| 11. Book Review: A Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Mexico's Copper Canyon Region |
| Copper Canyon is one of four labyrinthine gorges in Northwest Mexico's state of Chihuahua. The canyon lands are home to the indigenous Tarahumara Indians, who are famous for their reclusive culture, herbal knowledge and habit of easily running ultra marathon distances. The gorges are also home to a fabulous array of wildflowers, including Salvias, that amateur botanist Linda J. Ford documents in " "font-style: italic;">A Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Mexico's Copper Canyon Region." |
| Ask Mr. Sage |
| 12. Ask Mr. Sage: First-Aid for Salvia Frost Damage |
| Harsh winter weather in areas that normally have mild conditions can bring unwelcome surprises, including the death of favorite plants. This article talks about how and when to remediate frost damage to favorite Salvias in warmer USDA Cold Hardiness Zones. It concludes with a sidebar about a harmful cold snap in California's Bay Area that killed plants as well as birds in 1972 and which changed planting choices at the University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Ask Mr. Sage is a regular feature that is based on topics raised in calls and emails we receive at Flowers by the Sea. |
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