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(Glow Peach Mountain Sage) Long blooming Salvia microphylla 'Heatwave Glow' produces prolific quantities of soft peach-to-apricot blossoms along with dense, mid-green foliage.
(Rough Blue Sage) Honeybees and butterflies love this deer-resistant shrub, which grows wild on the southwestern Cape of South Africa. It is a member of the most diverse plant community in the world, the fynbos -- an Afrikaans word, meaning "fine bush" and referring to scrub plants or shrubbery.
(Telegraph Avenue Dwarf Mountain Sage) Here’s another member of the Turbulent Sixties Series of Southwestern Mountain Sages (Salvia microphylla), which developed from one of nature’s rebels – an accidental hybrid that Monterey Bay Nursery (MBN) named ‘Berzerkeley’ after finding it taking a stand in the nursery’s gravel paving.
(Yunnan Sage or yun nan shu wei cao) Yunnan Sage's tall spikes of violet-to-purple flowers bloom from summer into fall. Native to Southwestern China's provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, it grows on shady, grassy hillsides and along forest margins at elevations up to 9,500 feet.
(Arizona Deep Blue Sage) In contrast to the lavender-blue flowers of Arizona Blue Sage (Salvia arizonica), the blossoms of Arizona Deep Blue are nearly purple. They are the kind of deep lavender that you might see in a southwestern sunset.
(People's Park Mountain Sage) Sometimes nature can be rebellious. This is one the Mountain Sages known as the Turbulent Sixties Series developed from an outlaw cultivar of the Southwestern native Salvia microphylla. Monterey Bay Nursery (MBN) named their accidental hybrid ‘Berzerkeley.’
(Orchid Glow Sage) Sages can be such tough plants withstanding heat and drought. Yet so many, including Salvia 'Orchid Glow' have delicate looking blossoms. This one has large, bright magenta flowers with white beelines.
(Brilliance Pink Mountain Sage) Long blooming Salvia microphylla 'Heatwave Brilliance' produces prolific quantities of deep reddish-pink, or cerise, blossoms along with dense, mid-green foliage.
(Sparkle Pink Mountain Sage) Long blooming Salvia microphylla 'Heatwave Sparkle' produces prolific quantities of deep mauve-pink blossoms with white throats and dense, mid-green foliage.
(Orange Mountain Sage) This is the reddest of the Salvia regla species and the most floriferous. Side by side with the other varieties, this one is a bit taller and has darker flowers.
(Golden Girl Sage) Sages can be such tough plants. Many, such as Salvia 'Golden Girl', withstand heat and drought yet have delicate looking blossoms. Golden Girl features yellow flowers with a hint of rosy pink along with dark rose calyxes.
(Fancy Dancer Sage) Sages can be such tough plants withstanding heat and drought. Yet so many, including Salvia 'Fancy Dancer' have delicate looking blossoms. This one has bicolor flowers combining light and hot pink tones.
(Dancing Dolls Sage) Sages can be such tough plants. Many, such as Salvia 'Dancing Dolls', withstand heat and drought yet have delicate looking blossoms. Dancing Dolls features cream and rose bicolor flowers.
(san ye shu wei cao) So what do all those Pinyin words mean in this sage’s common name? We’ll give you an answer to the best of our ability in a minute. Meanwhile, we need to note that this medicinal Asian sage has handsome foliage and deep violet flowers.
(Shell Dancer Sage) So many sages combine resilience and loveliness. This includes Salvia 'Shell Dancer', which withstands heat and drought yet has delicate looking blossoms and lush green foliage.
(Radiance Bright Pink Mountain Sage) Long blooming Salvia microphylla 'Heatwave Radiance' produces prolific quantities of hot pink blossoms along with dense, mid-green foliage.
(Black Cherry Autumn Sage) Ripe Bing cherries come to mind when viewing the rich purple flowers of this full-sun sage that is adaptable to partial shade. Butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds are drawn to its blossoms from spring into fall.
(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.
(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.
(Dorset Lavender Gentian Sage) Large, deep lavender flowers shaped like parrot beaks make Salvia patens 'Chilcombe' distinctive in the Gentian Sage group, which is dominated by true blues.
(Navajo Autumn Sage) Even a hint of blue is unusual among Autumn Sage flowers. Salvia greggii 'Navajo Purple' is a rarity due to its magenta-purple blossoms, which hint at natural hybridization including a mystery parent in the blue range, such as Salvia lycioides.
Results for southwestern from the blog
Getting Started with Salvias |
1. Getting Started: Salvias for the Southwest |
Ask anyone to describe the American Southwest, and they're likely to sum it up in three letters : "D-R-Y." Yet precipitation can vary a lot here state by state and even within different parts of the individual states. One thing that is consistent about the story of water throughout the Southwest, is that rain and snow can rapidly swing from famine to feast to misfortune. |
2. Texas and Southwestern Native Plants for Butterflies, Honeybees and Hummingbirds |
Many gardeners and wildlife lovers in states with recurrent drought choose to increase the number of native plants in their yards. This is especially true of Texas, where statewide drought began in 2010 and hasn't yet abated. Native plants appeal to local wildlife, including pollinators. To help gardeners from Texas and the Southwest who want to create wildlife habitat, Flowers by the Sea (FBTS) suggests Salvias appropriate for Texas and Southwest gardens. |
Salvias Down South |
3. Salvias Down South: 8 Must-Have Salvias for the Southwest |
You don’t have to be a fine artist to create a work of beauty in the garden. By selecting hardy, vibrantly colored native Salvias that can withstand Southwestern weather ranging from sullen heat and drought to raging rainstorms, you become a landscape painter. FBTS Online Nursery carries many choices for your palette. |
Xeric Choices |
4. 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. |
Cultivating Color |
5. Composing a Symphony of Pastel Salvias Including Elk Rainbow Sages |
If you want to orchestrate a peaceful symphony in a flowerbed, planting a profusion of pastels is one way to do it. Pastels are lighter hues of bright primary and secondary colors. Although gardeners often visualize bright colors when thinking of Salvias, there are a number of pastels in the genus such as among the Jame Sage Hybrids (Salvia x jamensis spp.), including many in the new Flowers by the Sea Elk Rainbow Series. |
Ask Mr. Sage |
6. Ask Mr. Sage: Where Can You Grow Agastache? |
Hummingbirds love Agastache. Mr. Sage explains that just because one kind of Agastache is wrong for your climate, it doesn't mean they all are and that the genus is native to most of the United States. Ask Mr. Sage is a regular feature in our Everything Salvias Blog that answers customer questions. |
7. Salvia greggii: Discovering a Riot of Color |
It would be inaccurate to refer to the woody perennial Autumn Sage, or Salvia greggii, as coming in a rainbow of colors, because there is no true blue in the bunch. However, S. greggii cultivars form a riot of lipstick-intense reds, pinks, corals, apricots, oranges, lavenders and purples. Whites, pale yellows and bicolors also are members of the vivid species discovered in the dry, rocky landscapes of Texas and Northern Mexico by 19th century frontiersman, doctor, trader, writer and amateur botanist Josiah Gregg . |
Salvias Down South |
8. Salvias Down South: Salvia Success in Florida |
Florida is one of the wettest states in the nation, yet it is a fine place to grow Salvias if you select shade-tolerant, moisture-loving species and ones native to Florida. Gardeners who are accustomed to growing Salvias in a dry climate face a variety of surprises in Florida gardens. These include recurrent periods of drought, many cloudy days and soil that is so poor it has to be amended for Salvias. |
Sage Experts |
9. Sage Experts: Nancy L. Newfield's Hummingbird Journey |
Renowned hummingbird bander Nancy Newfield of southern Louisiana shares her journey from 1970s stay-at-home mom to citizen scientist and one of the nation's leading hummingbird researchers. This is the first article in a three-part series about Newfield's work and gardens, which abound with Salvias to feed hungry hummingbirds that overwinter in her suburban yard near New Orleans. It includes plant lists and the Louisiana Winter Hummingbird Project tally of banded hummingbirds from 1979 to 2015. |
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. |
Sage Words About Wildlife |
11. Sage Words about Wildlife: 4 Seasons of Hummingbird Salvias |
Regional differences in seasonal temperature and humidity affect the choice of Salvias to plant in hummingbird gardens. The varying seasons in which particular sages bloom and the part of the world where they originated also determine whether they attract hummingbirds. Flowers by the Sea Online Nursery offers suggestions based on regions and seasons. |
Salvias Down South |
12. Salvias Down South: Tough Texans Sing the Blues |
Blue Salvias bring peace to flower gardens. True blues, such as West Texas Grass Sage (Salvia reptans), are especially eye-catching. The same anthocyanins that make berries a healthy dietary choice also give them their colors. Similarly these chemicals create the wide variety of blues, purples and reds in the petals of flowers such as Salvias. Flowers by the Sea offers six varieties of tough Texas sages that can help you create a soulful garden bursting with blue. Drought-resistant and long-blooming, they grow happily in USDA plant hardiness zones 8 to 9, with some flourishing in areas as cool as Zone 4 and as hot as Zone 11. |
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