(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’.
(Austrian Sage) Tall spikes of large, pale yellow flowers rise up from Salvia austriaca’s basal rosette of impressively large leaves. Deeply lobed, like the edges of a lacy collar, the leaves are broader and longer than those of any Salvia we have ever grown.
Sage Experts |
1. Sage Experts: Meet Professor Rolando Uria of Argentina |
Sage Experts is a new feature on our Everything Salvias blog. It focuses on horticulturalists -- both amateurs and professionals -- in settings ranging from botanic gardens to universities. All have expertise in cultivating plants in the Salvia genus. This first profile talks about Argentina's Rolando Uria, an agronomy professor at the University of Buenos Aires and a presenter at the 2013 Salvia Summit II. Uria is well known for discovering Salvia 'Amistad'. |
Shade Gardening |
2. 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 |
3. New Product Filtering Tool Helps You with Decision Making |
Flowers by the Sea now offers a powerful, do-it-yourself, product-filtering tool that makes plant selection easier and faster. It sets up a matrix of choices to help customers sort possible selections for their gardens based on USDA cold hardiness zones, sun exposure, mature height and spread of plants, soil type and water needs. This article explains how the tool works and provides examples of how to use it. |
4. The Power of Scent |
While it's true that not all Salvias smell, well, pleasant, many varieties are grown specifically for the aromatic or even sweet aromas that they release into the air. These ten Salvias are our top picks for the best-smelling varieties in the garden. |
Portraits in Gardening |
5. Portraits in Gardening: Michael Kampf |
Portraits in Gardening is a new blog series from Flowers by the Sea that profiles customers who are passionate about the Salvia genus. This post features Illinois gardener Michael Kampf who has succeeded in growing many kinds of Salvias despite the frigid winters and fiercely hot summers of the Chicago area. He began gardening when 6 years old with encouragement from his mother and fell in love with Salvias at age 12. |
Business Buzz |
6. Buying Salvias Online from FBTS: How to Order & What to Expect - Updated |
When you purchase plants online, it's understandable to feel a bit nervous. After all, a tender green life is being sent to you in a box. Will it survive the journey in healthy condition? Also, how secure will your credit card information and other data be? Furthermore, how do you sort through all those plants in the online catalog? Flowers by the Sea provides answers. |
Getting Started with Salvias |
7. 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. |
Quick Digs |
8. Quick Digs: Inventorying Salvias and Tools for Spring Gardening |
This is the first article in our new Quick Digs series about preparing for spring in Salvia gardens. As spring approaches and daylight grows longer, first steps for preparing Salvia gardening include recording sages already planted before planning new purchases, repotting cuttings and seedlings, inventorying garden tools and turning the compost heap. When the first new growth arrives, you'll be prepared to remove weeds before they choke sages and other perennials that are re-emerging. |
Butterflies in the Garden |
9. Growing Habitat: Three Tough Milkweeds to Help Monarchs |
Flowers by the Sea Farm and Online Plant Nursery is serious about wildlife gardening and grows a number of milkweed species considered among the best for supporting Monarch butterflies. Three of the nursery's toughest, loveliest milkweeds are Indian Milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa), Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) and Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). Read about the history of milkweeds and the reasons why Monarch butterflies are threatened due to a shortage of these tough yet lovely plants caused by herbicides. Learn how herbicides and pesticides harm Monarchs and other milkweed-loving pollinators. |
Sacred Sages |
10. Sacred Sage: The Tongva Tribe & Coastal Sages |
Less than 250 years ago, Black Sage and White Sage also helped feed and heal the Tongvas and other Southern California native peoples. Here is their story. |
Butterflies in the Garden |
11. Creating a Butterfly Garden with Delectable Salvias and Milkweeds |
Creating a butterfly garden is like creating a teen-friendly home. You need to offer tasty snacks, healthy beverages, and comfortable accommodations that aren't too tidy. Like the teens that fill your basement and backyard, butterflies will keep coming back if you give them what they need. The variety of plants in your yard is the main reason why butterflies do or don’t visit. Salvias are among the popular plants for adult butterflies that love nectar. |
Sage Experts |
12. Sage Experts: How Dr. Dufresne Became the Sultan of Salvia |
December 18, 2018 - With great sadness we have learned that our friend Rich as passed away at his home in Candor, NC. A chance encounter with Pineapple Sage led organic chemist Dr. Richard F. Dufresne to become one of America's leading Salvia researchers. Sage Experts focuses on specialists -- both professionals and amateurs -- who have helped popularize the Salvia genus. Dufresne's life course changed the day he visited Rhode Island's Biodynamic Meadowbrook Herb Farm. Discovering the heady pineapple fragrance of Salvia elegans at Meadowbrook gave him a cause. |
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