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(Magic Wand Sage) Salvia x ‘Magic Wand’ is perky with vertical spikes of long blooming, rich purple flowers and dense, mid-green foliage. Overall, it reminds us of Salvia x ‘Big Blue’, but has smaller flowers and usually doesn’t grow as tall.
(Windwalker® Desert Rose Sage) Hot pink flowers top glossy, mid-green foliage top Windwalker® Desert Rose Salvia. Due to drought resistance, Salvia x 'Desert Rose' is a great choice for dry gardens. However, this petite beauty also grows well with moderate watering.
(Elk Vermilion Tropical Sage) Tall and full of large, orange flowers, Salvia coccinea 'Vermilion' is a clonal variety developed by FBTS.
(COOL Fandango Anise Scented Sage) A combination of dark, rosy bracts and magenta blossoms make Salvia COOL Fandango dance. It’s vivid, floriferous, and a hummingbird favorite.
(Smokey Jazz Anise-Scented Sage) The dusky black calyxes of Salvia BODACIOUS® ‘Smokey Jazz’ support large flowers shaped like parrot beaks the unique color of boysenberries — a hue between red and purple.
(Elk Morning Sun Jame Sage) Kelly green and black calyxes support the long blooming, creamy white and pale pink flowers of Salvia x ‘Elk Morning Sun’. A waterwise sage, it likes average watering but resists drought.
(Elk Blue Moon III Jame Sage) Dark calyxes cup dusky blue flowers that age to lavender and rise up from the veined, mid-green foliage of Salvia x ‘Elk Blue Moon III’.
(Elk Grape Ape Jame Sage) Bountiful flowers that are larger than normal for Jame Sage cover Salvia x ‘Elk Grape Ape’ in a cloud of purple that is sort of amethyst to pinot gris in color.
(Elk Smokey Grape Jame Sage) We think the dusky lavender flowers of Salvia x ‘Elk Smokey Grape’ look like the dusty, pale reddish-blue of Malbec grapes. This is a floriferous beauty.
(Elk Pink Cloud Jame Sage II) Abounding with clusters of large, soft pink flowers on spreading branches, Salvia x ‘Elk Pink Cloud II’ looks like a fluffy, cumulonimbus cloud.
(Shangri-la Sage) Take a close look at Salvia moorcroftiana x indica ‘Shangri-la’ and you’ll notice that its lavender flowers have lighter lower lips with deep purple freckles.
(Lancelot Wooly Canary Island Sage) Salvia canariensis ‘Lancelot’ has lavender flowers shaped like parrot beaks that are surrounded by deep rosy-lavender bracts.
(Crimson Sage) Abundant and long blooming, the bright pink to red tubular flowers of Salvia henryi attract hummingbirds and form a pretty contrast with fuzzy, silvery foliage. This is a long blooming sage that is made for gritty soils, such as sandy loam.
(Elk Crème Anglaise Jame Sage) Framed by minty green foliage, the blossoms of Salvia x ‘Elk Crème Anglaise’ transition from dreamy pale pink throats to white skirts. They look delectable.
(Elk Xanadu Jame Sage) Like the magical, fictional land of Xanadu, there’s something heavenly about this sage. The flowers of Salvia x ‘Elk Xanadu’ look ethereal due to the bluish cast of their magenta-pink blossoms supported by deep magenta and green calyxes. It's a powerful attraction for pollinators, including hummingbirds.
(Guanajuato Giant Gentian Sage) At 3 inches long, the flowers of this Gentian Sage are the largest of any we grow. Guanajuato Giant is also unique for its tall, upright growth and heavily textured foliage. This is our own tested seed strain of this rare plant.
(Vatican White Clary Sage) Clary Sages are well known for their use in folk remedies, aromatherapy and cosmetics. Large white bracts frame the spectacular white blooms of this cultivar on 5-foot-tall spikes. It is a delight for honeybees and butterflies.
(SALLYFUN™ Blue Lagoon Sage) You can expect early and long bloom from SALLYFUN™ ‘Blue Lagoon', a dwarf border sage with dense, aromatic foliage. Its spikes of deep violet-blue flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
(White Lilac Sage) Dense whorls of white, instead of lavender, blossoms cover tall flower spikes of this long-blooming perennial that tolerates both heat and cold. They rise up from fragrant, mint-green foliage.
Results for species from the blog
| Getting Started with Salvias |
| 1. Getting Started: Salvias for Zone 9 |
| California's small, Mohave Desert city of Barstow averages about 5 inches of rain annually. Across the continent, Pensacola, Florida, has more than double Barstow's population and more than 12 times its amount of rainfall. Yet both cities are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zone 9 where you can plant perennials and shrubs that survive winter lows ranging from 20 to 30 degrees F. Flowers by the Sea takes readers on a triple coast road trip of Zone 9 and suggests plantings for varied growing conditions along the way. |
| Sacred Sages |
| 2. Sacred Sage: Giant Bolivian Sage |
| Of all the mint family's more than 6,500 species worldwide, Giant Bolivian Sage (Salvia dombeyi) has the longest blossoms and tallest growth. Each tubular crimson flower grows up to 5 inches long and has a burgundy calyx at its base.The plant's bright green, heart-shaped leaves are equally long. In South America, the flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds with extremely long beaks. However, Giant Bolivian Sage don't need pollination to flower beautifully for many seasons if growing conditions are right. |
| Cultivating Color |
| 3. Gray and Silver Foliage Lights Up the Landscape Day and Night |
| It isn't easy describing green in the garden. Foliage can span greens so pale they are almost white to blue-greens so deep they murmur the forest primeval. Amid this range, you'll find shimmering silver- and gray-leaf species. To locate these types of Salvias and companion plants in the Flowers by the Sea catalog, please visit our " Gray and Silver Leaf Plants" category in the FBTS catalog menu. This article includes a small sampler of our selection. |
| 4. How to Defend Homes Against Wildfires & Firescape with Salvias |
| Home improvement, including landscaping, involves lots of decisions. This is especially true when modifying your property to protect against wildfires. Flammability is usually the last thought on a gardener's mind when planning what to purchase. But if you live in wildfire country and are a Salvia lover, you may have noticed sages on lists of fire-resistant plants. Read more about wildfire preparedness at FBTS. |
| 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. |
| Shade Gardening |
| 6. Made for Shade: Japanese Woodland Salvias |
| Sturdy, shade-loving Japanese Salvias are lovely additions to woodland gardens with their lush, large-leafed foliage and delicate-looking flowers in colors including pinks, purples and yellows. They're ideal for bordering shady paths where they invite visitors to pause for close-up views. Flowers by the Sea suggests Japanese species for woodland gardens and organizes them according to their cold hardiness. |
| New at FBTS |
| 7. New at FBTS: Salvia greggii 'Cold Hardy Pink' |
| Salvia greggii 'Cold Hardy Pink', a variety of Autumn Sage, is made for Zone 5 winters. It tolerates conditions swinging from hot, dry summers to sub-zero winter temperatures. Pair it with Ultra Violet Sage ( Salvia x 'Ultra Violet') for a tough yet lovely border. |
| 8. Plant Safari Salvia in the South African Fynbos -- Part 2 |
| Flowers by the Sea is a home away from home for a number of South African Salvias that enjoy our moderate, Mediterranean climate. None are endangered species, but all face the threat of land development in the Western Cape's Fynbos Biome -- unparalleled for its variety of medicinal and ornamental native plants found nowhere else in the world. Preservationists are working to balance changes in land use and to maintain biodiversity in the CFR. Brutal poaching of rhinoceroses is one of the toughest problems they face. |
| Sacred Sages |
| 9. Sacred Sage: Menorah-Shaped Salvia hierosolymitana Bridges Cultures |
| Heading into the season of long, dark nights and candlelit holiday dinners, it is pleasant to think of the candelabra-shaped Jerusalem Sage (Salvia hierosolymitana) lit up with raspberry and pale pink flowers in spring. It's structure was likely an inspiration during Biblical times for design of the Jewish menorah. Jerusalem Sage grows well in moderate climates and has tasty leaves used in cooking. Historically and in culinary use, it bridges the Arab and Israeli cultures. |
| 10. Sacred Sage: Salvia coccinea -- An American Subtropical Treasure |
| Although it probably originated somewhere in Mexico, Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea) existed in the American Southeast prior to European exploration of the New World, so it is considered an American native. It's also native to Central and South America and has naturalized in parts of Europe and Africa. Medical researchers think its phytochemicals may fight illnesses caused by inflammation and oxidative stress from free radicals. |
| Sage Experts |
| 11. Sage Experts: Nancy Newfield, Hummingbird Gardener, Part III |
| It is ironic that one of the least social types of birds inspires so much sociability in human beings. We refer to hummingbirds, which are the object of festivals and the communal effort of bird banding research nationwide. This is the third and final article in a series about renowned hummingbird expert Nancy L. Newfield, who grows many Salvias in her hummingbird gardens. We recount a visit to Louisiana to observe Newfield and her team banding hummingbirds in winter. You'll also find a rainbow of top hummingbird Salvias listed here. (Photo credit: John Owens) |
| Sage Words About Wildlife |
| 12. 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. |
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