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Letter to the editor

The stately spires of salvia

Hybridizing and greater availability are making it easier to give your garden a lift with vibrant spikes of this hardy plant.

By John A. Starnes Jr., Special to the Times
Published August 4, 2007

If there is one group of lovely yet reliable perennial flowers just begging to show off in Florida landscapes, it is the subtropical Salvias species.

Despite their admirable toughness in the face of drought, monsoon, freeze and pests, and their multifaceted beauty, many of these relatives of mint and cold-loving northern salvias have long been rarities in the hands of collectors.

But one of the best things about gardening in Florida these days is that demand by gardeners and homeowners for undemanding colorful landscape plants has led growers to respond with formerly rare gems.

Ten years ago, the heartstopping beauty of Salvia guaranitica was unusual. But this exotic native of Central America is available now in gallon pots for about $3. Nicknamed "anise-scented sage" because of the scented leaves, which some find disagreeable, this toughie forms underground tubers, so it bounces back after a freeze and endures drought amazingly well.

The flaring trumpets of cultivars like "Black and Blue" and "Purple Splendor" beckon butterflies, bees and hummers. Just imagine those rich blue and purple blooms in a bed of yellow roses, lantana or sulphur cosmos.

Fiery red S. coccinea is considered a Texas native. "Texas Sage" is a common nickname. It reseeds freely those seedlings transplant easily, somehow thrives in wet summers and dry springs, and is irresistible to hummingbirds and butterflies as each tubular bloom beckons with a drop of sweet nectar. For that reason, I like to pluck newly opened blooms to sprinkle atop salads.

Hybridizers have bred stockier, bushier, larger-bloomed cultivars like "Lady in Red" that are just as easy to grow as the wild species but have a tamer look in the garden. Keep your eyes peeled: Every once in a while, a chance seedling with snow-white blooms may appear.

As a landscape designer, I've long relied on the sterile, interspecies hybrid "Indigo Spires." It was discovered by John MacGregor at California's renowned Huntington Botanic Gardens as a chance cross between the xeric species S. farinacea and S. longispicata. It has been available in garden centers for the past 10 years or so; it is perhaps the most lush, reliable source of lavender-blue blooms for Florida landscapes, and is a long-lasting cut flower.

Got shade? The brilliant orangey-red velvety blooms of S. miniata glow in a shade garden, where the graceful sprawling habit can support vast numbers of blooms. Once again, you have a salvia that hummingbirds and butterflies can't resist.

Want a bold splash of port-wine purple blooms atop chartreuse foliage? Indulge in the Brazilian native S. splendens "Van Houttei." Each bloom is a sultry blend of maroon washed with chocolate. The ordinary "red garden sage" we've seen all of our lives in parks and garden shops were bred from the base species S. splendens, but this cultivar was discovered and named in 19th century Holland. Nevertheless, it is happy in semi-shady Florida landscapes, and it roots easily from cuttings.

With drought a reality in Florida, S. greggii's origins in the deserts of Mexico and Texas make it perfect for xeric landscapes here. The graceful stems are covered with petite leaves the size of a squirrel's ear, and topped with graceful spires of florets in red, pink, salmon, orange, white, even violet. It adapts well to rainy summers, if we get them, as long as the soil is well drained.

Whether you have a landscape sorely in need of easy color, or a patio or balcony begging for container gardens that overflow with blended hues and lure butterflies and hummingbirds, send in the salvias.

John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organic gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for Florida. He can be reached at johnastarnes@msn.com.

[Last modified August 2, 2007, 16:13:42]