UC Davis Arboretum Review No. 44 FALL 2003

SALVIAS FOR EVERY GARDEN by Ellen Zagory, Director of

We are excited about the 2003 Faire because we are hosting the sale at a new and improved location, the Arboretum Nursery at Orchard Park. We have expanded our selection, and are trying out new systems for streamlining the sales. Also new this year are special member benefi ts at the Plant Faire: members may shop early, from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m., before the sale is open to the public, and members will receive a 10% discount on all purchases.

This year we are featuring a base and has a number of selections. ‘Allen special plant group—the sages, or Chickering’ and ‘Pozo Blue’ are two excellent members of the genus . This forms that have proven their disease diverse group offers a multitude resistance and garden tolerance in our area. of choices to the Valley gardener For larger gardens we are happy to have a interested in color, wildlife value, supply of the lower growing (and vigorous) drought tolerance, fall display and hybrid S. ‘Bee’s Bliss’, an introduction from ornamental foliage. Cornfl ower Farms, and an excellent heat In nature this group is tolerant, silver-foliaged ground cover. distributed in temperate and Somewhat taller but with equally beautiful subtropical regions from sea white foliage is the mounding S. leucophylla level to 11,000 feet. Some are ‘Point Sal Spreader’ with its amazing tolerance purely herbaceous, either annual of summer drought and pale lavender–pink or perennial, some make good fl owers. For banks and hillside in need groundcovers and others are of erosion control we recommend Salvia upright . While lavender mellifera, one of the toughest, low, shrubby Salvia spathaceae. Photo by ErnestoSalvia by Sandoval spathaceae. Photo or purple “shish-ka-bob” shaped natives available—and the fl owers smell like fl ower heads are common on grape Kool-Aid! shrubby California natives, fl owers on other sages broaden the gardener’s palette and come A RAINBOW FROM MEXICO IN THIS ISSUE in blue, white, pink, yellow, red and even Planning for fall planting ...... 3 One of the most popular groups of sages brown. New orientation signs ...... 3 that we sell are the selections and hybrids of Exotic ...... 4 and Salvia microphylla. Hybrids Oak Grove surveyed ...... 5 SHRUBBY NATIVES of these plants have been renamed Salvia x Poetic evening ...... 6 The California fl ora provides us with jamensis for the village of Jame in Coahuila Rotary Club of Davis ...... 6 some excellent drought-tolerant landscape province, Mexico. Memberships & gifts ...... 7 plants for hot, exposed sites. Salvia clevelandii There are many forms in cultivation of Directorʼs letter ...... 8 is a shrubby perennial that forms a woody which we offer a number of colors. S. greggi ‘Furman’s Red’ and ‘Lipstick’ have deep red and deep fuchsia colored fl owers HERBACEOUS gracefully from the stem ends. Both of respectively. We have a good supply of PERENNIALS these species respond to judicious and S. x jamensis ‘Salmon’ (named for the frequent pruning to shape them and fl ower color) and S.x jamensis ‘Sierra Some of the bluest blue fl owers force branching. are produced by species of Salvia. San Antonio,’ a tough plant tolerant of Two large, blue-fl owered sages dry conditons with attractive bicolor Also coming to California horticulture via Mexico is Salvia patens, a true are similar in size and both evergreen fl owers of creamy yellow and peachy- in warm winters. Salvia guaranitica rose. We also have unnamed forms of perennial which dies back to its tuberous root in winter. We have ‘Argentina skies’ is a pale blue selection pink and yellow available. All of these of a robust plant with anise-scented are upright forms with small elliptical ‘Guanajuato’ a beautiful variant with deep blue fl owers more than two foliage which fl owers heavily in the smooth leaves and multitudes of hot summer months. Salvia mexicana fl owers fi rst in early summer and then inches in length on plants that grow to six feet. Another new ‘Limelight’ has purple-blue fl owers selection grown from framed with lime green bracts that add Jelitto Seed is ‘Blue Angel,’ sparkle and provide nectar for insects a vigorous grower with and hummingbirds. showy bloom. These But what about all the other plants need good garden we don’t have time for here? soil and deep weekly Every garden needs a culinary sage for irrigation. fl avoring roast fowl, pineapple sage From the Mediter- with brilliant blooms and deliciously ranean have come the scented leaves, ‘Indigo Spires’ an long-blooming and hardy annual that acts like a perennial with perennial sages like ‘Blau- purple blue spires all year, lyre-leaf konigin’ (blue queen) sage, dolomite sage, clary sage. Whew! which are classically used You can see the choices are many and the variety amazing. Be sure to Autumn sage, Salvia greggii ʻScottʼs Redʼ in perennial borders. This year we are trying a new check the catalog for the varieties we again in autmn, earning the name form, ‘Rosenwein’ (rose wine), with an didn’t have space to write about. For “autumn sage” and providing a much “earthy pink” color. A very similar and the dedicated sage-o-phile we highly welcome show of fall blooms. rarely available form which is thought recommend The New Book of Salvias by Betsy Clebsch, which can give you Salvia microphylla is a larger and to be a hybrid relation is Salvia ‘Rose Queen’ with lovely rosy-pink spikes. more specifi c details on the sages you broader than Salvia greggii select to grow. although the fl owers are very similar. With broader, egg shaped leaves with ROBUST REDS AND evident vein patterns and toothed BLUE GIANTS margins, these make three- to four- foot tall and wide plants that spread Other species of salvia are large to make broad patches. The varieties shrubs in their native range and we are offering this year in addition to though perhaps tender (15 to 20 the beautiful red-fl owered species are degrees F) if exposed can be grown ‘San Carlos Festival’ from Tamaulipas successfully in protected locations. with magenta-scarlet fl owers and ‘Wild Hummingbird enthusiasts will approve Thing,’ a plant obtained from Bob of two of our showiest red-fl owered Hamm of Sacramento, with fuchsia- species, Salvia darcyi and Salvia regla. pink fl owers which profusely cover the S. darcyi is a large perennial to three plant. feet tall and will die to its rootstock in winter. In spring, it grows to rapidly Also from Mexico is Salvia produce light green deltoid leaves and chamaedryoides, a shrubby plant with large, showy, orange-red fl owers. A attractive evergreen gray foliage and show stopper, it likes full sun and blue fl owers which deserve adjectives weekly watering. Similar in color such as “sparkling” and “radiant”. and truly a deciduous shrub, Salvia Salvia coahuilensis is another low- regla will reach up to six feet tall with growing evergreen shrub which long signal-red fl owers which droop liberally produces beet-purple fl owers. Salvia clevelandii , San Diego sage

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