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Salvia 'Phyllis Fancy' (Phyllis' Fancy Sage) - A vigorous growing sage that grows 5 to 7 feet tall by as wide with a mushroom shaped habit, narrower at the base than at the top. It has 3- to 4-inch-long lanceolate leaves held on upright stems with leaves that are mid green with rugose texture on the upper surface and lighter green below. The flowers, present from mid to late summer to first frost (blooms well into winter in Santa Barbara), are in one sided whorls held spaced apart on 1 foot long dark violet colored wand-like spikes with violet and green calyces and a lower petal lip that is pure white, while the upper lip, the hood, is white tinged violet and covered with soft hairs.
Plant in full sun in a decently well-drained soil and irrigate occasionally to infrequently. Established plants are fairly drought tolerant but look best with occasional irrigation. It remains evergreen in frost free gardens yet proven hardy in Tony Avent's test garden at Plant Delights in North Carolina, where he describes it to be a root hardy perennial tolerating at least down to 8° F. It responds well to a hard trimming (to near ground) in late winter or later and needs this to look its best. It is a great plant for late summer color as a large border or accent plant and is great for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden. Likely, as with related sages, it probably will not be that attractive to deer.
Salvia 'Phyllis Fancy' was discovered at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum and named for Phyllis Norris, a longtime volunteer in the garden with speculation that it perhaps is a hybrid between Salvia leucantha and Salvia chiapensis. It is somewhat similar to Salvia 'Waverly' but is taller with larger leaves and darker slightly smaller flowers - overall it reads to be a much bluer plant when in flower than 'Waverly'. We first saw this plant looking glorious in the border garden at the Mendocino Coast Botanic Garden and purchased the plant at their nursery. In 2017 while visiting the British Isles we also noted large plantings of this plant looking glorious at The Royal Botanic Garden Kew and at the Royal Horticultural Society Garden at Wisley. Phyllis has really gotten around!
Information displayed on this page about Salvia 'Phyllis Fancy' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will 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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