Re: Hi from L.A.--salvia question from the newcomer

The detailed description given very closely fits Salvia 'Marischino'  a S.
microphylla cultivar that San Marcos Nursery has.  I would call the stems
striped, rather than black.  It has intense Marischino red flowers and a
strong minty scent to the leaves.   It is one of my favorites.

Jane
Santa Barbara

>At 086 PM 5/17/00 -0700, Laura Cooper wrote:
>>I am happy to be signing on to the group, and hello to Sean especially! Nick
>>and I enjoyed your visit to L.A. immensely, thank you for introducing us to
>>the discussion group. Ever have any luck finding out what the Salvia with
>>red greggi flowers (a tad larger) and long wandering almost black shiny
>>stems is? You took some cuttings with, hope they rooted for you--
>>happy matilija poppies,
>>Laura Cooper
>
>Laura -
>
>Well, I finally got a chance to have a phone conversation with Betsy Clebsh
>about this Salvia in your garden.  She was able to tell what I was talking
>about almost before I had completed my short description.  The moment I
>remarked that the stems were what was interesting, she knew immediately.
>
>For the group who is out of the loop with regard to this, Laura showed me
>this large, bushy sage in her garden with deep, dark, wine-red stems that
>have a narrow white line on each side, extending from the leaf node up to
>the next node, to be started again 90o degrees from the first (following
>the opposite arrangement of all Salvia foliage.  A very intriguing effect
>at close range!
>
>This is a form of Salvia microphylla (grahamii) that Huntington brought
>back from Belize in the 60s or 70s.  It can grow pretty tall, about 4-6ft,
>and as wide.  It differs from the many other S. microphyllas in the trade
>in blooming more or less all year round, and being more frost tender
>(though apparently perfectly hardy down in So. California where you
>are).  S. microphylla is closely related to S. greggii and its group, but
>tend to become bushier and denser in growth over time.  This one seems to
>attain a large size and should be given lots of room.
>
>Betsy says she does not grow this plant at the moment, but there are some
>still around.  I managed to find a photo at Monterey Bay Nursery's web site
>that shows the stems faintly in the background in the upper left hand corner:
>http://www.plantpictures.com/S/salvmbl1.jpg
>(group - In this picture, it almost looks like reflected light off the
>stem, but they really do have these white stripes.)  Luen (of Monterey Bay
>Nursery) calls this S. microphylla 'Belize form', which is an acceptable
>name based upon Betsy, who also mentions this form in her book, A Book of
>Salvias.
>
>So, if you don't find a plantlet, and if I cannot manage the cuttings
>again, I would have some sort of resource down here.
>
>We look forward to seeing you and Nick again in July!
>Regards,
>Sean O.
>
>Sean A. O'Hara                       sean.ohara@groupmail.com
>h o r t u l u s   a p t u s          710 Jean Street
>'a garden suited to its purpose'     Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>Ask me about the worldwide Mediterranean gardening discussion group

_______________________________________________________________________

Jane Reese
E-mail:  jreese@silcom.com
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index