Re: salvias

 Sean O'Hara wrote:
 >
 > >From: Bill Brown <bbrown@pacbell.net>
 > >Subject: salvias
 > >Sender: owner-medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
 > >Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 18:45:29 -0800
 > >
 > > How can I express my enormous gratitude to the many fine folks who
 > > responded to my plea for practical, down-to-earth, gardener-type
 > > information on salvias?  I had no idea how many people love these plants
 > > as much as I do, though I knew, and know even better now, how many know
 > > infinitely more than I do about their cultivation -- which, you have to
 > > admit, is impossible to learn from books.        <snip>
 > > Nora Harlow
 > > 216 El Toyonal
 > > Orinda, CA 94563
 > > (510) 254-4823
 > > e-mail:  bbrown@pacbell.com
 >
 > Nora -
 >
 > What kind of garden do you have?  You must contend routinely with
 > deer in your area.  What kinds of plants do you grow (along with the
 > Salvias!)?
 >
 >  H O R T U L U S  A P T U S - 'a small garden suited to its purpose'
 >  Sean A. O'Hara
 >  710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA  94610-1459        sean.ohara@ucop.edu
 >  (510) 987-0577

 I don't have a garden.  I have a "test plot."  It is established
 intentionally along a deer path so I can determine what deer like to eat
 and what they avoid, as well as long-term responses of plants to
 nibbling.  Most of my customers have gardens with full access to herds
 of deer, so I need to know what will grow and look good over time under
 such demanding conditions.  In response to your comment, I am compiling
 a list of plants that survive deer browsing in this area.  Experience
 suggests that deer even in different parts of the same city have
 different tastes, which helps to explain the irrelevance of most
 "deer-resistant" plant lists.  Very few plants are avoided by deer in
 almost all areas, and one couldn't garden with only those few.

 My other interests, and goals of my test plot, are what looks good year
 round and long-term.  Most gardens not tended by avid gardeners decline
 severely over time, so I am trying to develop a list of plants that I
 can depend on in such situations as city-maintained landscapes and
 landscapes maintained by professional maintenance firms.  I'm also
 trying to figure out how to frustrate the inclinations of maintenance
 personnel to shear everything into ugly boxes.  My test plot helps me
 learn how plants behave over time and which ones can safely be planted
 in different locations with instructions to maintenance personnel to
 leave them alone.

 I will try to write up what I've learned over the past fifteen years and
 post it if anyone is interested.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index