Salvia guaranitica 'Rhythm and Blues' PP 29,585
Salvia flowers come in a wide range of colors including, red, pink, salmon, coral, orange, yellow, purple, blue, white and everything between. There are also bicolor flowers like Salvia Black and Blue whose calyx color contrasts with the floral tube color. There are dozens of perennial salvia species and cultivars to choose from, each with a slightly different flower color. While salvia flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds and butterflies to the garden, they are generally not browsed by deer or rabbits.
Popular species include Salvia greggii. Salvia microphylla, Salvia nemorosa and Salvia guaranitica. Salvia greggii is an american native plant from Texas and Mexico that is very popular in the southwest due to its aromatic leaves (somewhat minty) and colorful flowers on the red end of the spectrum. Salvia greggii is relatively carefree and very tough...perfect for a low maintenance garden. Salvia greggii frequently hybridizes with Salvia microphylla and the resultant offspring are referred to as 'Salvia greggii types' or Salvia x jamensis.
The European native, Salvia nemorosa, is very popular in Europe and so is the S. nemorosa x pratensis hybrid called Salvia x sylvestris. Salvia nemorosa flowers tend to be on the blue/purple end of the spectrum and form long spikes above the foliage which not only look good in the garden, but also make great cut flowers. Like its parents, Salvia sylvestris tends to produce spiky flowers on the blue/purple end of the spectrum. One cultivar, 'May Night' won the PPOY award in 1997. Another popular S. sylvestris is 'Caradonna'.
Welcome to Plant Delights Nursery at Juniper Level Botanic Gardens. We are a private research and display botanic garden located near Raleigh, North Carolina (USDA Hardiness Zone 7b). Our retail mail order division allows us to make the best perennials from our trials available to gardeners around the world, some of which were developed here, some from our plant explorations, and others from breeders around the world. Between 1988 and 2010, Plant Delights Nursery introduced over 500 new perennial plants to US horticulture. In 2002, we were honored to be recognized by the American Horticulture Society for our lifetime of work in commercial horticulture. This image gallery is but a sampling of the great perennial plants available for gardeners around the world. We do not carry all plants pictured at any one time, but since our mission is to educate and inspire, we hope these images and the linked articles below will expand your garden horizons and interest. You will find an array of other interesting information and fascinating perennials throughout our website...thank you for taking time to visit.
