Autumn Sage: Salvi greggii

 

I should probably stop using this blog to confess my deep, dark garden lusts.  I think I have mentioned my college friend, Bunny (yes, that is what she preferred to be called) who, whenever a song played at a party, shouted "that's my favorite song!"  I know I am very much like Bunny (and weirdly, my family nickname is Duckie) in that I have many "favorite" plants.  This salvia, however, is a real charmer among a group of charming plants. It is hardy, blooms reliably in the late summer and fall, and is a good food source for hummingbirds during their autumnal migration.  The flower, though small, is brightly colored, a hot,deep pink, it pumps them out more and more as the weather cools and is a good accent in floral arrangements. It produces color in the flower garden when little is is still blooming.  It is somewhat evergreen, though is not at its best in deep winter. The plant has been really easy for me to grow and I keep its sprawling habit in check by pruning and staking.  It has some natural dieback in cold winters and I just prune the dead branches off.  It can get a little woody and you might want to replace it every 10 years or so if a hard cutting back does not refresh it.

Happy Gardening!

Clary Sage

Sometimes I cannot help myself and buy a plant on impulse (Do I have a place for it? Not really. Does it fit in with a color or landscaping scheme? Nope). I like salvias (sages) and in the spring of 2010 I bought a perennial, clary sage. The first year it did not do much, gathering strength, perhaps, and coping with transplanting. This year, the plant sent up three stalks, with beautiful, pebble-textured leaves and pointed, nodding flower buds. The first bud has swelled, turned into an upright flower stalk- this photo does not do it justice! It is large and striking. So far, a no fuss plant, needing nothing but occasional water.
Happy gardening!
PS a note on "I like..." I am reminded of a college friend who, whenever a song played, shouted "This is my favorite song!" I am like that with plants....sorry!

Pineapple sage

Pineapple Sage

I had an acquaintance in college nicknamed "Bunny" Rosen (her real name was Bernice, her last name was not really Rosen). Now Bunny was a perfectly nice person (and we can overlook the anti-feminist implications of her name)…and a party girl. Bunny loved music, but had a real problem with discrimination, that is, evaluating and judging music. Hence, every piece of music was her “favorite.” “That’s my favorite song” she would say to Tom Petty’s “Refugee.” “That’s my favorite song” she would shout to a Michael Jackson tune. “Favorite song” to “Desperado…,” to Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman,” to the Beatles “Yellow Submarine.” So, occasionally we would play a trick on Bunny, just to hear her shout “That's my favorite song” to any of Alvin and The Chipmunks oeuvre or to Captain and Tennille’s “Muskrat Love.” Never failed...

I am writing today to confess: I am Bunny Rosen. I am the Bunny Rosen of plants. I have rarely met a plant I did not like (aside from the obvious weeds and poison ivy, though I only get a mild rash from the latter). OK, Mahonia (Oregon grape) is not a favorite, but it can work in the right place. Boxwood? Sorry about the “very Richmond” sacrilege here, but I am not over fond of boxwood, but, again, it can look good in the right place. Roses? Pretty, but too fussy for me. That’s about it- a mild negativity toward a few plants, but not much.

So, in an act of Bunny Rosenhood, I am writing an entry on a second "ornamental of the year!" I recently wrote about African Blue Basil and this is about another herb- a salvia (I loooove that plant!), Pineapple Sage. It is a perennial to zone 8 (not here) but I am going to root some cuttings to overwinter in my house (along with a lot of other cuttings and 4 large banana plants). You do have to wait a long time for the bright red, gorgeous flowers, but it blooms at the end of September when many plants are done blooming in the VA garden. It has a heady pineapple scent and attracts and feeds those ruby-throated hummingbirds who are on their migratory way down south just as it blooms. It can grow to be a large plant, a few feet tall in one season, and is stunning, in a small-flower way.

This story reminds me of a preference I have for the ephemeral. In this day and age, of the instant gratification of fast food, out-of-season produce available year round and ordering anything off the internet to be delivered overnight, I prefer seasonality and sometimes just having to wait (not that all aspects of instant gratification are bad, it is just a matter, to me, of balance). I like it that peaches are only good in the summer, that watermelon is not on the Thanksgiving menu, and that those first spring greens are a March epiphany. I like that my flowers come and go and sometimes last only one day…and I like catching and appreciating them during that short window. Reminds me to live…..

Happy gardening!

PS This week’s photos are by my son who has a science blog at:

www.dtvons.blogspot.com