On New Year’s Day, in a small raised bed in my back garden, two very-very-very early or possibly two incredibly confused narcissus plants were blooming and perfuming the clear, crisp air. In the first weeks of February, clumps of daffodils were to be seen throughout the garden, with flowering quince, creeping phlox and veronica, candytuft, and the deep purple hyacinths beginning a spring show which is normally reserved for an early Easter. And, by the first week of March, the crocuses, wood hyacinths, and stars-of-Bethlehem had added their colors to the otherwise bare earth. The experienced Lubbock gardener knows that even though spring arrives on March 21st with the vernal equinox, our average last hard freeze date is around mid-April. But, for those plants which depend on warmer temperatures to let them know when to break dormancy and bloom, the mild winter weather coupled with the substantial rains of last autumn has triggered an early and prolific bloom cycle, pushing many of the late spring and early summer flowering perennials up by more than a month.
Since gardeners have, through experience with the many vagaries of nature, developed a pessimistic streak in spite of their brave smiles, it would be easy to imagine a summer with no flowers left to bloom, no fragrance to fill the air, no bees buzzing or butterflies flitting in the heat of June and July. But after the moaning and wailing, the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair, a serious walk through the garden to check for space, and a second, closer inspection of the new garden catalogs reminds the gardener that the many varieties of salvias are a great match for our West Texas summers. While there is much debate as to nature’s most nearly perfect food (chocolate immediately springs to many minds), salvias surely rank high as this area’s most nearly perfect flower. With at least 60 species, they range from annuals to perennials, from soft flowing forms to woody shrubs, from culinary herbs to fragrant aromatics. Among the perennials, there are short salvias which can be used as ground covers such as the Salvia argenta, or silver sage; bush forms with a pungent lemony scent like the Salvia greggii in colors ranging from white through peach, pink, rose and scarlet; larger bush types such as Salvia leucantha, or the Mexican bush sage, with arching stems and lavender flowers; the fat, happy silver gray Salvia clevelandii or Cleveland sage, whose leaves, when brushed, give off a powerful and intoxicating scent of honey; and the tall, rangy blue flowered forms such as Salvia pitcherii, or Pitcher’s giant blue sage. All are heat loving plants which are drought tolerant once established, do well in an alkaline soil, are not troubled by insects or plant diseases, and have bloom periods which take them to our first killing frost in late autumn. A bit of tip pruning after flowering keeps them looking tidy, and the larger woody types, which are now classified as sub-shrubs, should be pruned back only to remove dead branches after they are fully leafed out in late spring. Annual salvias, such as the mealy-cup sage, in either the blue or white form, and the scarlet sage look particularly lovely in a cottage garden, but all salvias are excellent companions in a mixed border or bed. For those gardeners who prefer to see a plant up close and personal, a large number of varieties of salvias are stocked by local nurseries and garden centers once the growing season has begun.
For gardeners who haven’t yet tried them, make a resolution to celebrate this summer with a salvia and a smile!