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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 about Salvia greggii 'Salmon' 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.
Please note that after 46 years in business, San Marcos Growers will be discontinuing nursery operations by the end of 2025 and the property will be developed for affordable housing.
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