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(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.
(Jean's Jewel Sage) An entirely new color in the Salvia guaranitica group, this chance hybrid with violet-pink blossoms was discovered by Kathleen Navarez at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. It is compact, freely flowering and spreads gently via rhizomes.
(Elk Raspberry Moose Sage) The deep raspberry flowers of this Salvia x Jamensis look good enough to eat, like spoonfuls of a silky, mouthwatering mousse dessert. Yet the 'moose' in its name isn't a misspelling. It refers to flowers that are larger than normal for a Jame Sage.
(Wendy's Wish Sage) A new hybrid Salvia from Australia, Wendy's Wish is absolutely spectacular! Quick to bloom, compact and tidy in habit, we believe this to be one of the finest of all Salvia varieties.
(Elk Blue Note Sage) In Europe and Australia there is a popular and widely used seed grown Salvia variety called 'Blue Note'. Our offering, 'Elk Blue Note', is the result of several generations of careful breeding and selection.
(Himalayan Cloud Sage) Nepal's Muktinath Valley -- a sacred site for Hindus and Buddhists -- is the place to go to see this majestically tall shade perennial in the wild. It grows at altitudes up to 14,000 feet and often emerges while the ground is still snowy.
(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.
(Blue Ecuadorian Sage) A densely branched shrub with silvery leaves and dusky blue flowers, this rare species was once thought to be Salvia cruickshanksii. In the nursery trade, it sometimes is called Salvia 'Equador'.
(Hadspen Roseleaf Sage) If you plant this sage in a mild-climate area where hummingbirds overwinter, you'll likely find hummers zinging back and forth among its magenta pink blossoms from fall through spring.
(Black Dan-shen) Growing into a basal rosette of leaves measuring up to 3 feet across, Salvia przewalskii 'CC5795' is known for its handsome foliage and deep purple, almost black flowers.
(Kisses and Wishes Sage) Blooming over multiple seasons, Salvia ‘Kisses and Wishes’ bursts with long, luminous, rosy pink blossoms nestled in pink-to-gold bracts. It’s so pretty that it seems unfair to refer to the newest member of the Wish Sages as a “mutation.”
(Dot's Delight Bicolor Gentian Sage) This sage turns heads, because its large, white and blue bicolored flowers make it a unique variety of Gentian Sage. Developed in the UK, Dot's Delight is less vigorous and less sun tolerant than other varieties of the species. This is our own tested seed strain of this rare plant.
Results for have from the blog
Getting Started with Salvias |
1. Getting Started: What Is Drought and Xeriscaping |
Drought is a shortage of precipitation over a season or more as in California where four years of drastic declines in rainfall and snowpack have created severe watering cutbacks. Drought is also defined by what and whom it affects from agriculture to homeowners. Flowers by the Sea Farm and Online Nursery explains drought and xeriscape, a water-conserving form of landscaping that is effective for gardening during drought and in dry climates. This article is part of the FBTS Getting Started series for gardeners becoming acquainted with Salvias (true sages). It includes a brief list of drought-resistant sages. |
Quick Digs |
2. Quick Digs: Prepping and Overwintering in Salvia Gardens |
In autumn, even while the days are bright and balmy, you may be wondering how to help favorite Salvias survive local winter temperatures and freeze-thaw cycles. Although we can't offer you foolproof solutions, we provide ideas in this first article of our Quick Digs series on winter mulching Salvias and overwintering them both outside and indoors. |
Portraits in Gardening |
3. Portraits in Gardening: Dave and Eleanor Holland |
Portraits in Gardening is a new ongoing feature in the Everything Salvias blog of Flowers by the Sea. This first post focuses on Dave and Eleanor Holland's Northern California garden, which beckons bees, butterflies and hummingbirds due to its abundance of sages. |
Container Gardening |
4. A Guide to Successful Potting Soils for Salvias |
One of the decisions that Salvia gardeners face in spring is what kind of potting mix to use for outdoor container plants. Find answers in FBTS Farm & Online Nursery's guide to successful potting soils for Salvias. |
Hummingbirds in the Garden |
5. Annual Salvias that Hummingbirds Adore |
If a hummingbird could talk, he or she would tell you it's hard work packing for a long journey. Consuming mightily from dawn to dusk, day after day, hummingbirds double their weight before migration. They can't afford to run out of fuel before their next meal. To help hummingbirds, particularly on their northward journey, home gardeners can celebrate the arrival of spring by planting gardens filled with early blooming Salvias and companion plants that are excellent annuals in areas where winters are too chilly for survival as perennials. |
Xeric Choices |
6. Xeric Choices: Xeriscape Basics & Ancient Ideas |
To create a successful xeriscape garden, planning and design are essential. Planning helps you make better choices, which saves time, money and effort as well as water. A little bit of wisdom from ancient Native American practices doesn’t hurt either. While soil improvement is always helpful, it should be moderate for xeric Salvias, such as Autumn Sage and Mealy Cup Sage. Finally, pruning and thinning, strategic groupings of plants for frugal watering and mulching for protection against severe heat or winter chill all were key to ancient Southwestern agriculture as well as modern xeriscaping. |
Quick Digs |
7. Quick Digs: Planning a Salvia Garden Calendar |
This is our second article in a Quick Digs series about preparing for spring in Salvia (sage) gardens. It's easier to succeed at almost anything if you make plans and set goals before beginning a project. This is certainly true in Salvia gardening. Creating a gardening calendar ensures greater success in planning. |
New at FBTS |
8. New at FBTS: Ember's Wish & Love and Wishes Salvias |
Plants contribute to our lives in many ways -- as sources of beauty, building materials, clothing, food, fragrance, medicine and oxygen. Add hope and fulfillment to the list, because that is what three abundantly blooming Salvias from Australia add to the lives of seriously ill children. These plants form the Wish Collection -- Wendy's Wish Sage, Ember's Wish Sage, and Love and Wishes Sage. Flowers by the Sea is one of the first online nurseries in America to sell all three. Although we have grown and sold Wendy's Wish for a number of years, Ember's Wish and Love and Wishes are new at FBTS. |
Hummingbirds in the Garden |
9. 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. |
Quick Digs |
10. Quick Digs: Treating Salvias as Bedding Plants |
As autumn days become shorter, so does time for protecting all your tender perennial sages (Salvia spp.) that nature designed for warmer winter conditions. This is the fifth and final article in our Quick Digs series on preparation for winter in the Salvia garden. This post acknowledges that sometimes it's better to replant favorites as annuals in spring. |
Container Gardening |
11. Container Gardening Basics: Watering Potted Plants |
Container plantings are welcome islands of color and fragrance whether in small or large yards. Their emergence signals the pleasures of summer, including icy glasses of lemonade. Potted plants have a mighty thirst, as well. Container garden plans for Salvias and companion plants need to factor in greater frequency of watering than the plants would receive in-ground. |
Butterflies in the Garden |
12. 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. |
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