Phlomis cashmeriana (Kashmir Sage) - This is a robust plant grows to 2 feet tall and spread out to form a wide mass 10 feet or more with densely woolly stems that hold 8 inch long leaves that are broadly rounded at the base and pointed at the tip with a scalloped margin and downy undersides (canescent). The large pale lilac-pink flowers are in 1 foot tall stacked whorls in the spring and summer.
Plant in full sun to light shade. Drought tolerant and quite cold tolerant – has weathered without any damage our January 2007 cold spell with three nights of 25° F and likely would tolerate temperatures considerably lower.
There were two distinctly different plants being labeled Phlomis cashmeriana circulating in the California nursery trade. Our plants are grown from seed that we received from the Bordeaux Botanic Garden in 1992 (Seed lot #1092-1989) but in 2001 we received seed from SeedHunt that produced a very different looking plant which we listed as Phlomis cashmeriana 'Seedhunt Selection'. It also has large clusters of pink flowers but is more perennial in nature with smaller and narrower foliage that is very dark gray-green above and white on the underside with a denser covering of stellate hairs than our other form. Both plants are very attractive, though our original form seems more vigorous in the garden. The difference between these plants has us questioning the original identification of the Bordeaux Botanic Garden with the thought our plant might possibly be Phlomis samia, another soft pink flowering plant that is shrubby or perhaps it is a hybrid. Whatever the proper identification of this plant is, the plant we have long grown as Phlomis cashmeriana is very nice and since we have sold this plant since 1994 under this name , we think it might be more confusing to our customers to change it. For this reason we have left the listing as Phlomis cashmeriana, but make note here on our web listing that this may be an incorrect name.
The name for the genus dates back to the first century AD from the Greek physician Dioscorides use of the word to describe some plants in the genus and it thought to originate from the Greek word meaning "flame" because the leaves of some species were used for lamp wicks. The specific epithet means of Kashmir in the western Himalayas. We have grown this plant continuously since 1994 and have a large plant of it in the nursery garden.
The information about Phlomis cashmeriana that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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