LIBERTO’s SEEDS AND BULBS SALVIA SEEDS 2018/2019 You’ve probably grown a few, but the genus Salvia can easily keep you busy trying new species for the rest of your life. From drought-tolerant shrubs to cushion forming rock garden plants and tropical leafy monsters that get covered in flowers, it’s impossible not to find a Salvia that can fulfill your gardening needs. They are very easy to grow from seed and in most cases reaching flowering within a year. Follow the salvia madness but beware, once you’re hooked, it’s for life! Please scroll to the end of the catalog for sowing and ordering instructions. Listings of orange color, are new items in the 2018/2019 list. S10 Salvia aethiopis 3€/30seeds Coming from plains across the Balkans and Anatolia, this biennial will provide interest with its big silver leaves in the first year, and huge candelabra inflorescences of hundreds of creamy white flowers in the second. It will self-seed in the garden so be aware of that when placing it. S20 Salvia africana-caerulea 4€/20seeds A very useful South African sage, it will form beautiful rounded bushes that flower mainly in spring and repeat flowering during the summer according to water availability. Otherwise you can just forget to water it for months and it will still look healthy. Germinates better with smoke treatment. S30 Salvia africana-lutea 3€/30seeds Similar to the above but with bigger grey leaves and huge flowers of a very different orange-brown color with darker calyces. Both can be cut back to the ground if overgrown. I tend to cut them back for rejuvenation every couple of years at the end of summer and then water them heavily to ensure regrowth. Germinates better with smoke treatment. S35 Salvia aegyptiaca 3€/20seeds Rather for the dedicated Salvia collector, this small weedy north African species has the tiniest flowers of any Salvia I’ve seen on small plants up to 20cm tall with slightly scented leaves. S40 Salvia amplexicaulis 3€/30seeds A herbaceous perennial native to the Balkans and further east, this resembles your classic S. nemorosa varieties but it can reach a meter in height and has a more natural feel. The flowers are dark purple-blue and contrast well with the pink- purple bracts. S50 Salvia argentea, green leaves 3€/30seeds This form of silver sage, originally collected in olive yards near Athens, has greener leaves that are not felty as the more classic grey form. It is a biennial and in order to reach its maximum potential should be sown in spring for flowering the next year. If it is positioned in a well-drained spot and the spent flowers removed before they set leaves it can live and flower another couple of years. S51 Salvia argentea, silver leaves 3€/30seeds Similar to the above but with silver, very hairy, felty leaves. It is also more cold-hardy than the above, as this form is found in higher elevations naturally. S60 Salvia ‘atropatana’ (=S. virgata) 3€/30seeds A very useful herbaceous perennial that flowers in late spring and will repeat flowering in summer if cut back. It forms beautiful rosettes in late winter and spring of big, green, rounded leaves that late give rise to very upright flowering stems with purple flowers. It is very drought tolerant in a Mediterranean climate, but will not look great in its summer dormancy if left unwatered. Although this plants goes around in the trade as S.atropatana, it is not in fact the true species but one of the many forms of the widespread S.virgata. S70 Salvia azurea var. grandiflora 3€/20seeds A summer flowering herbaceous perennial from North America with wiry stems and long thin leaves and beautiful azure blue flower in summer. It needs summer water. S80 Salvia barrelieri 3.30€/20seeds I find all North African sages to be beautiful and different and this is certainly both. A herbaceous perennial with big basal leaves that give rise to little branched flower spikes of up to 2m with big, ´hooded´ blue flowers. A very architectural plant that can act as an exclamation point in your planting. It can be very drought tolerant in xeric conditions, sometimes going completely leafless in the summer and coming back with the first rains of autumn. S100 Salvia 'Blue Note’ 3.30€/20seeds A small rounded shrub with tiny leaves and hundreds of small purple-blue flowers for months on end. S120 Salvia brandegei 'Pacific Blue' 3.30€/30seeds One of the Californian bush sages with very aromatic foliage and heavily clustered flowers spikes of blue flowers. Very drought tolerant as all its Californian relatives. S130 Salvia canariensis var. candidissima 3.30€/20seeds As its name suggests, this Canary Islands native will make a bush up to 2m high with very hairy, almost white looking leaves and it still take drought in the summer. The big branched inflorescences have flowers and bracts in shades of pink and purple and last for many months. S135 Salvia candidissima 3€/10seeds A plant suitable for a gravel or rock garden in a colder climate as it doesn’t take well the summer heat of a Mediterranean climate because of its higher elevation origins. It generally resembles a dwarf silver sage (S.argentea) to which it is related but with a more perennial character and mat forming habit. S160 Salvia caudata 3€/20seeds Also known as ‘El Cielo Blue’ , this Mexican shrub forms a medium size shrub with big green leaves and numerous 30cm blackish spikes with small bright blue flowers with white markings. It tends to flower when the weather is cooler and the nights are longer. Temperatures around 0 Celsius will bring it to the ground but it will resprout from the base in spring. It is surprisingly very long lived. S170 Salvia ceratophylla 4€/20seeds This rarely seen Middle Eastern species somewhat resembles silver sage but with dissected leaves (hence the name from the Greek ‘keraton’ = horn) and branched flowering spikes of creamy yellow flowers. S173Salvia chamaedryoides var. isochroma 4€/20seeds A classic and beloved Salvia, this small silver leaved shrub with true blue flowers takes heat and drought without problems and revives when cooler weather or rain is available. Cut back often to maintain a rounded shape. S175 Salvia ‘Chateau Cathare’ 3.50/30seeds A very low growing hybrid, presumed to be a cross between S. lavandulifolia and S. officinalis. Very worth growing as a ground cover (but don’t expect it to run much, it builds up in time). As this is a hybrid, who knows what will result from these seeds! S180 Salvia chrysophylla 3.50€/20seeds One of my favorite Turkish species for its ability to withstand drought in the summer and still look fresh. Apple green leaves (I’m still wondering about the ‘chrysophylla’ part) and spikes of big bicolor light blue and white flowers. S190 Salvia coccinea 3€/50seeds A great annual or short-lived perennial for a watered garden, this Salvia self-seeds readily in all the right spots – and if it does in the wrong one it is easy to pull. Spikes of red flowers all throughout summer and autumn. S200 Salvia cyanescens 3€/20seeds Another Turkish favorite, S.cyanescens has rosettes of hairy silver leaves and multibranched spikes of light purple-blue flowers in spring. Very drought tolerant plant. S210 Salvia darcyi 3.30€/20 seeds If I had to only have one Salvia for my watered garden, this would be the one. Reliably long lived, it disappears underground in the winter but from late spring through fall it unstoppably produces its brilliant big bright red flowers. Give it space as the stems can get quite large throughout the growing season, even though the rootstock will remain compact. S220 Salvia desoleana 3.30€/20seeds From Sardinia, and with pungently aromatic leaves, this sage performs best under severe drought. Resembling a giant clary sage (Salvia sclarea) it has stems that will grow and remain upright (and up to 2 meters!) only without irrigation. Heavily flowering from spring through mid-summer, it is loved by bumblebees and bigger Hymenoptera – it is always fun to watch a group of them feeding from flower to flower. S230 Salvia disermas, pink variety 3€/30seeds A South African sage that looks quite different from the rest of its relatives, this is a plant to put in a very sunny xeric position to make it attractive throughout the summer. The spikes of light pink flowers keep coming all summer long. The only negative would be the spent inflorescences that remain brown and dry on the plant, so give it a good shearing once in a while. Give it space as it likes to form big mounds. S240 Salvia dominica 4€/20seeds A Middle Eastern and Cyprus native, this wonderfully scented sage is one of the first of the Mediterranean shrubby species to come into flower (as early as February) here. Forming rounded shrubs up to 1m high, it forms thousands of white- peach flowers that covere the plant and give it a ‘cloudy’ appearance. Cut back to base when it gets too big. Wouldn’t garden without it. S250 Salvia eigii 3€/30seeds For a semi-shade spot, the big basal leaves of S. eigii is one of the points of interest as they look very fresh during the winter. Wait till it flowers! Half to one meter high branched flower spikes of burgundy flowers will cover the plant from early to late spring. S. eigii together with S.viscosa and S.hierosolymitana are three similarly coloured and looking sages that nevertheless have differences between them that make them all very good garden plants.