One of three forms collected by Yucca-Do Nursery, this compact variety has red flowers with the two anthers protruding from the upper hood bearing yellow pollen.  The flowers appear to have a couple of devilish yellow horns.  All forms of this species make good container and bedding plants, with long summer bloom periods.

There are other forms worth growing, such as Painted Ladies, Dulces Nombres (when you can find it), and an old, unnamed form.

This sage from South Africa is one of the most showy from that continent.  It develops many heads loaded with lavender and white flowers having yellowish markings in the throat.  This plant will be happiest in a Mediterranean climate.  It can do well in more humid climates, as long as it is in well-drained soil and has good air drainage as well.  It will probably need to be thinned out above the crown during rainy season. 

It makes a nice greenhouse plant for the winter.  Watch out for mealy bugs during wet weather, as the dense foliage provides them with many hideouts.  The foliage is pleasantly aromatic. 

 My plant came from Companion Plants, who have had a good selection of African species.

This is a relative of autumn sage (Salvia greggii) from the hills in the Chihuahuan desert.  It likes to scurry around the ground, running like a strawberry, in search of moist, fertile soil.  When it hits a rich pocket, it roots quickly to form a tuft of horizontal  and vertical growth. the latter bearing loose spikes of sky blue flowers.  In the brilliant desert sun, the foliage is whitish, giving the mound the supposed appearance of a snow drift.  At the Norfolk Botanic Garden in 1998, the bed of this plant looked like a gigantic silver thyme. It makes a fascinating hanging basket plant, with many stems running straight down as much as six feet in one year.

Other related species from section Flocculosae worth growing are: S. lycioides, S. coahuilensis, and S. chamaedryoides

This plant is popularly used as an entheogen, and is always in demand.  My interest in it is as an ornamental.  It has been successfully bloomed in Washington state and Orlando, Florida.  My friends told me that it was quite spectacular in full bloom, having white tubular flowers coming out of prismatically pure sky blue to bluish violet calyxes and stems.  Anyone who is familiar with the shade of blue associated with the Blessed Virgin’s robes on statues will see the connection with one of its native names.  Its cousins S. recurva and S. cyanea are similarly colored, but with blue and deep indigo flowers respectively. 

The secret to getting this one to bloom is to avoid light on the plant after dark.  It isn’t as sensitive as poinsettia.  The right amount of heat and nutrients (moderate in both cases) also affects the bloom.  As far as I know, a greenhouse will be needed to see it bloom.  Grow lights won’t work. 

In summer, it will go into hibernation and needs shade and moderate moisture, since the natives of Oaxaca grow it near water at high elevations.

Also called incorrectly in the trade as S. bulleyana, it has deep yellow flowers with a dark purple lower lip.  The plant grows like a typical Chinese sage from a taproot and a basal rosette.  Its foliage is a nice rich green and the plant is fairly tidy in habit.  Some work needs to be done to determine what kind of a climate it will thrive in.  I have trouble keeping it for more than two years in North Carolina, and Panayoti Kelaidis reports similar results at the Denver Botanic Garden.  I suspect the climate from Washington to California will suit it best. 

I have recently received news that a cross with S. glutinosa is being marketed.  Since the other parent makes a persistent garden specimen, this new hybrid will probably be worth looking into.

This selection from Yucca-Do has orange-red flowers and an upright habit.  It has a moderately open structure and flourishes in Mediterranean climates.  As with many greggii selections, it is useful as an annual.  Currently, it is one of a group of sages being offered with other plants as temperennials by Sunny Border Nurseries, Inc. in the northeastern United States.