Re: Best Salvia

At 06:42 AM 5/7/2002, Richard Dufresne wrote:
>Has anyone compared Waverly with another possible leucantha hybrid,
>`Phyllis' Fancy'?  I am told it has a nicer habit and is an even heavier
>bloomer.  My guesses for the other parent are S. urica (from the shape of 
>the lower
>lip and the dark shade of purple in the calyx and flower) or El Cielo Blue
>(from the relatively persistent bract).  The pinkish hue of the flower in
>Waverly suggests its other parent is a fuchsia sage like S. chiapensis.

I was going to chime in with S. chiapensis as a suggestion for Joe, which 
grows lushly in a partial shaded section of my own garden , blooming 
lavishly as well.  The color of the leaves is a sort of yellow green, they 
are rounded, shiny, flat but with textural veins.  The flowers are in thin 
spikes, smallish but deep magenta red in color.  For me (in Oakland), this 
guy is in almost constant flower year round - I merely snap off near the 
base those stems that are getting too long or floppy, or have too many 
spend flower spikes.  It spreads modestly at the roots - only enough to 
provide a plant to two to divide and give away occasionally.  It circumbed 
to our 'big freeze' (below 20oF?) a number of years ago by finally dying 
down to the roots, only coming back some months later, but it has been 
going strong ever since.

Richard Dufresne has documented my opinion that 'Waverly' is a hybrid 
between S. leucantha and S. chiapensis on his web site, it seems perfectly 
obvious from my observations of the plants.  My friend, Betsy Clebsh, 
another Salvia authority, cannot understand why I would think this!  I 
cannot explain except to say that my artist trained eye seems to zero in on 
details that others don't see.  Perhaps someday someone will uncover the 
mystery surrounding this garden hybrid or someone will bother to do a DNA 
comparison.

Regards,
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s   a p t u s     -    'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara            fax (707) 667-1173         sean@support.net
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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