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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.
(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.
(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).
(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.
(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.
(Dry Earth Black Sage) Black Sage Salvia mellifera is one of the most common and fragrant native shrubs in the California Coast Ranges and is ideal for dry gardens. At 12 inches tall by 5 feet wide, this variety is an excellent groundcover.
(Dandelion Leaf Sage) Brush or bruise the basal foliage of this Moroccan Salvia and it exudes a citrusy fragrance. Petite and heat tolerant, this is a sturdy, adaptable groundcover.
(Bee's Bliss Sage) If you are looking for a California native sage to use as a groundcover, Bee's Bliss is a fine choice. Low-growing, widespreading and colorful, it is ideal for choking weeds.
(Cut Leaf African Blue Sage) In botanical names, aurita means “ear shaped.” It’s the ear-like lobes of this sage’s leaves that give the species part of its name Salvia aurita ssp. galpinii. The cut leaf foliage is heavily lobed, mint green and lightly hairy.
(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.
(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.
(Rosie O'Grady Mountain Sage) Honeybees and hummingbirds love the large, bright pink flowers of Salvia microphylla 'Rosie O'Grady', a drought-resistant sage. Dense and fragrant, it's large, glossy green leaves are veined and have finely serrated edges. This is a lush choice for dry gardens.
(Killer Cranberry Mountain Sage) Masses of magenta flowers on tall spikes lure honeybees and hummingbirds to the rich nectar of Salvia microphylla 'Killer Cranberry'. Its prolific flowers are a killer attraction for people too.
(Blue African Sage or Blousalie) A handsome, densely branched shrub with small, gray leaves, this Salvia puts on a show when in full bloom. The pale blue flowers bloom on foot-long spikes that cover the plant. Each flower has a large, trumpet-shaped, green-and-red bract at its base.
(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.
(Kellerman's Sage) Rare in the United States, this wooly leafed, upright shrub comes from Southern Mexico and Guatemala. Mid-size, powder-blue flowers bloom on its long, airy stems from summer through winter in mild climates. It's lovely in mixed, drought-resistant plantings.
(Arizona Blue Sage) We are so impressed with this top-performing, drought-resistant ground cover that we have rated it best of class. Arizona Blue Sage is adaptable to a variety of shady conditions and blossoms so abundantly that it seems to have as many rich blue flowers as it has leaves. It is native to dry, shaded areas in mountain canyons in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
(Rocketman Russian Sage) A cloud of cool, lavender-blue flowers shoot upward from the fine-leafed, gray-green foliage of Salvia yangii ‘Rocketman’. This is a shorter, more upright form of Russian Sage, which was known botanically as Perovskia atriplicifolia until 2019 when the species was reclassified as a Salvia.
(California Purple Sage or California Gray Sage) This California native is commonly known as Purple Sage for its flowers or Gray Sage for its silvery, velvety foliage. Due also to its hardiness, drought tolerance and ability to attract small wildlife, it is a joy in the dry garden.
(Cedros Island Sage) From the Island of Cedars off the coast of Baja California Sur comes this delightful xeric sage with deep violet-blue flowers and silvery foliage. The square-shaped, 1-inch-long leaves are densely covered with downy, short, white hairs providing moisture retention.
(Judean Sage) Native to the mountains of Judea in Israel, this dark violet flowered, perennial sage is unique among the Palestinian Salvias - as a woodland native it grows well in partial shade. It is a tough, drought-resistant plant with deeply cut & hairy foliage which forms impressive mounds of color in the spring and early summer.
Results for resistant from the blog
Xeric Choices |
1. Praise for Top 10 Lesser-Known Drought-Resistant Salvias |
Eco-vigilantes. That's what some newspapers call smartphone users who post photos and videos tagged droughtshaming on Twitter and other social media documenting careless water use by celebrities, everyday homeowners and businesses, especially in Southern California. |
2. Four Top Drought-Resistant Perennials for Dry Shade |
Searching for shade-tolerant plants is difficult. Finding ones that grow well in dry conditions, especially as groundcovers, is even more challenging. Flowers by the Sea talks about different types of shade and four drought-resistant perennials for these varying levels of sun exposure. It also explains how to search the company's extensive product menu. |
Ask Mr. Sage |
3. Ask Mr. Sage: Best Time to Plant Drought Resistant CA Natives |
Drought resistant California native sages thrive when planted in fall. It's easier for roots to become established when soil is warm, air temperatures are cooler and precipitation is increasing. Ask Mr. Sage is a regular feature of the Everything Salvias Blog and is based on calls and emails from customers. |
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 Experts |
5. 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) |
Salvias Down South |
6. 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. |
7. Drought-Resistant Beauties: A Guide to the Salvia greggii and S. microphylla Group |
It can be a long journey from discovery to popularity for a plant. Currently, the most widely sought group of Salvias is the one encompassing S. greggii , and S. microphylla , which are commonly known as Autumn Sage and Mountain Sage. They caught the eye of naturalists traveling the American Southwest and Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains in the mid-to-late 1800s. However, they didn't take root in garden catalogs for well over 100 years. |
Quick Digs |
8. Quick Digs: Zone 5 - 9 Weedbuster Gardens for Average Moisture |
Quick Digs is a serial containing short posts focused on a central issue of Salvia gardening. The topic for the first series is Salvia groundcovers for weed control, and this is the second article. Baby, it can be cold outside in Zone 5 during the winter! But the roots of all of the tough Salvias listed here survive sustained frost and snow, then rise up again in spring. To minimize weed growth, the best defense is the good offense of dominating a flowerbed with sages, especially mat-forming groundcovers. |
Cultivating Color |
9. 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. |
Sage Experts |
10. Sage Experts: Richard & Bracey Tiede Nurture Salvias & Community |
Love of gardening is partly about love of nurturance. Some gardeners nurture far more than their home landscapes; that's the case with Silicon Valley retirees Richard and Bracey Tiede. Through avid volunteerism in organizations such as the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County, Western Horticultural Society and Pacific Horticulture Society, they are helping to popularize drought-tolerant Salvias and shape sustainable gardening practices in the West -- a part of the country constantly facing drought. |
Hummingbirds in the Garden |
11. Red Birds in a Tree: How a Rare Wildflower Became a Hummingbird Garden Star |
Red Birds in a Tree, known botanically as Scrophularia macrantha , is a rare, cold-hardy, Wild West perennial with cheery red flowers hummingbirds love. Southwest New Mexico botanist O.B. Metcalfe collected it in 1904. |
Sacred Sages |
12. A Guide to Growing and Respecting Sacred White Sage |
White Sage (Salvia apiana) is a sacred plant for Native Americans, especially tribes in its Southern California native lands. It's a challenging plant to grow. Flowers by the Sea Farm and Nursery talks about the history and religious use of Salvia apiana as well as providing a guide to growing it. |
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