Bought 3 small plants a Annie's Annuals last summer. They are 6 feet tall and blooming here in South Bay area of California in January. ...Read More It is the lushest thing right now in my winter garden besides the cymbidiums and the hummingbirds are loving them.
This Salvia was named for Jean Coria, who was a passionate propagator of species in the genus Salvia for many years at Strybing Arboretum...Read More in San Francisco. It is what we called a 'garden hybrid', having been discovered in the Cabrillo College garden, as a seedling, by Kathe Navarrez (of the Horticulture program there).
This hybrid is believed to be a cross between Salvia gesneriiflora and S. guaranitica. If one were to attempt propagation by seed, one might end up with something more like one of its parents! Richard Dufresne describes it as a robust form of 'Purple Majesty'.
I have not had the chance to grow this Salvia yet, but my experience propagating it would suggest it is a somewhat tender plant, similar to its cloud-forest parents. It's certainly not as beefy as S. gesneriiflora!
(I was Jean's assistant at Strybing for 10 years.)
Bought 3 small plants a Annie's Annuals last summer. They are 6 feet tall and blooming here in South Bay area of California in January. ...Read More
This Salvia was named for Jean Coria, who was a passionate propagator of species in the genus Salvia for many years at Strybing Arboretum...Read More