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(Hot Lips Sage) What a winner for fascinating flowers! Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’ is a native of Mexico that produces a combination of solid red, solid white, and bicolor red and white blossoms all on the same plant and sometimes at the same time.
(COOL Pink Lace Anise Scented Sage) Cheerful Kelly-green bracts surround magenta buds that bloom into the soft pink yet magenta-tinged flowers of Salvia COOL Pink Lace. Its bright green leaves have a licorice-like fragrance.
Results for aware from the blog
Ask Mr. Sage |
1. Ask Mr. Sage: What Kinds of Salvias Are Edible? |
Ask Mr. Sage answers questions based on calls and emails that Flowers by the Sea receives. This post concerns Salvias that are edible and tasty. Although we are unaware of any Salvia species (true sages) that contain poisonous parts, we are cautious about which ones to recommend for culinary use. A link to our culinary species is included along with links to our blog posts about cooking with sages. |
Hummingbirds in the Garden |
2. Ten Favorite Flowers for Butterflies and Hummingbirds |
Flowers that butterflies and hummingbirds favor are rich sources of nectar. But not all nectar-rich butterfly favorites are easy to access with long hummingbird beaks. Conversely, many flowers designed by nature to attract hummingbirds don't have the structure necessary for feeding butterflies or providing a perch. Here are ten Salvias and companion plants for backyard wildlife habitat that both butterflies and hummingbirds will enjoy. |
Book Reviews |
3. Book Review: The New Sunset Western Garden Book |
On a day when it's too cold or hot to be outside, a gardening guide, such as The New Sunset Western Garden Book , is a useful and entertaining companion. At 768 pages long, it isn't lightweight reading. Be prepared to prop the book up on pillows in your lap as you page through it while kicking back on the couch. |
Celebrity Salvias |
4. Celebrity Salvias: Fuzzy, Fancy Salvia Oxyphora |
A bright, cherry-licorice red, the large, fuzzy blossoms of Salvia oxyphora would make anyone stop and pay attention. Commonly known as Fuzzy Bolivian Sage or Bolivian Spearhead Sage, S. oxyphora has equally unusual foliage that fools the eye. At a distance, the plant’s lance-shaped leaves appear to be a smooth, glassy green. However, they are covered with tiny clear-to-white hairs. They’re also large -- growing up to 5 inches long and 2 inches wide at maturity -- and taper to long, sharp points. It was first collected near Cochabamba, Bolivia, by German botanist Otto Kunst in 1892 |
5. Fall Cleanup: Plant Placement and Pesky Problems |
You don’t usually have to fuss over Salvias to give them what they need. Yet the end of fall and other growing seasons are good times to seek solutions to problems that affect plant vigor. It is a time for a call to attention as well as a cleanup call to action. |
Sacred Sages |
6. 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. |
New at FBTS |
7. Himalayan Sage Is the Salvia Collector's Holy Grail: Part 2 |
Plants don’t have voices but they have stories to tell, including tales of discovery. It’s easy to see why the early 18th century plant explorer Victor Jacquemont would have paused to collect the rare Salvia hians while traversing broad expanses of northwestern India. This second half of our article about the alluring species digs into its history. |
Sage Words About Wildlife |
8. 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. |
9. Paperless Catalog Conserves Resources and Lowers Prices |
Don't expect a catalog in your mailbox from Flowers by the Sea, because we have never printed one and refuse to do so. Print catalogs are tree-munching dinosaurs on their way to extinction due to the rapidly changing world of digital technology. Online catalogs are environmentally friendly and save our customers money, because we can keep our plant prices low. |
10. 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. |
Quick Digs |
11. Quick Digs: Improving Soil for Spring in Salvia Gardens |
This is the fifth article in our Quick Digs series about getting ready for spring in Salvia gardens. The previous post talked about weed control. Now we dig into soil and amendments, which aren't just additions to legal documents. The word also refers to materials added to soil to improve its structure and chemistry. These include organic matter, such as compost, as well as chemical fertilizers and minerals (lime and crushed rock are examples). Choices depend on the plants you want to grow and the current make-up of your garden soil. |
Ask Mr. Sage |
12. Ask Mr. Sage: How to Control Snails |
Ask Mr. Sage is a Q&A feature from Flowers by the Sea. This one talks about how to ward off snails and slugs safely through simple organic methods, including barriers and handpicking, as well as through careful use of iron-phosphate pesticides. It also talks about how to nurse damaged Salvias back to health. |
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