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Salvia greggii 'Salmon' (Salmon Autumn Sage) - Evergreen perennial native found throughout southwest Texas and into Mexico with light green glabrous leaves that vary in length from 3/4 to one inch long. A highly variable growing plant with an open habit and reaching a height of two to four feet tall by about half as wide with salmon pink flowers that decorate the branch tips throughout summer and into fall until short days and cool weather slow then stop their production.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to very little - this is a drought resistant plant and cold hardy down into high teens° F. This cultivar is the weakest of the Autumn Sage selections that we have grown, but has a beautifully colored flower.
The species Salvia greggii is naturally found at elevations from 5000-9000 feet in the mountains and rocky slopes of Mexico and southwest Texas. The name Salvia comes from the name used by Pliny for a plant in the genus and comes from the Latin word 'salvere' meaning "to save" in reference to the long-believed healing properties of several Sage species. The specific epithet honors Josiah Gregg, (1806-1850), an American Naturalist who traveled through Texas in the early 1840s, recording the geology, geography and plants all that he saw in his Commerce of the Prairies and later joined a botanical expedition to western Mexico and California. Salvia greggii is commonly called Autumn Sage since it blooms through to first frost but also Texas Sage, but this can confuse it with Leucophyllum frutescens, which shares this common name.
We first started growing this cultivar in 1989 after getting it from Mark Bartholomew at Hi-Mark Nursery in Carpenteria, California. We long thought the color of the flowers quite nice, but it was always a weaker and more open plant compared with other Autum Sages and we finally discontinued growing it in 2008. We continue to grow the durable Autumn Sage cultivars Salvia greggii 'Alba' and Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red'.
The information displayed on this page about Salvia greggii 'Salmon' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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