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Re: S. forskaohlii

At 10:43 AM 11/3/1998 PST, you wrote:
>>I was interested in Rich's comments about the difficulty of
>>germinating this salvia. For interested read incredulous. Here it
>>germinates like cress (100% germination in a couple of weeks, no
>>special treatment, gritty compost, 65F or so, stand well back)
>
>I'll second that one - it seems to germinate in just about any temp 
>above 40!  It's a great plant but deadheading it will save *lots* of 
>weeding out...  Anyone who has trouble germinating this thing is more 
>than welcome to pop by my house and dig out a few thousand seedlings.  
>:)
>
>bob

Bob, Tim, and Rand:

Many is the time I've wished I live in a Mediterranean climate.  It would
make seed collection and harvesting much easier for me.  I say this because
two of my favorite genuses, Salvia and Ocimum set achenes with glutinous
seed coats.  With North Carolina subtropical conditions (summers with hot,
humid nights), mold often infects this outer coat, rendering seed impotent.
Evidently, this is what happens to the little S. forskahlei seed I do collect.

I've tried for several years, but I haven't found a time when there is much
to collect on maturing spikes.  Evidently, the choice seed shatters off the
gynobase very soon after ripening.  I do get volunteers, but relatively few,
and have to scarf them up when I can and pot them for sale.  Like my
Muehlenbeckia axillaris, it certainly hasn't proven to be a pest for me.

I am also aware of how vigorously this sage does well in the western US,
though.  I can still remember visiting Lester and Marshal at Western Hills
Plant Nursery in the early 80s and finding it all over their garden,
especially at path borders where it must have washed down from plants up
slope during irrigation and rains.

RIchard Dufresne
Zone 7
Greensboro, NC

Where we are having a series of days with fog and drizzle with near freezing
at night.
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