Cheryl:
Thank you.
Art

Thanks. Good site.

Now I know what I DON"T have! :)

So that's what divinorum looks like?! Doesn't seem to be a very attractive plant for all the fuss that's made about it.

A garden center near me with a large collection of salvia species used to carry S. divinorum before it got so popular with non-gardeners. The foliage is much more attractive than what I see on that website, even on the healthy looking plants. I always thought it would be a great addition to my garden after I got a greenhouse so I could bring it into flower, but unfortunately they don't sell it anymore.

Karen, I wonder if what you saw being sold as S. divinorum was the real thing. This is, IMHO, one of the most unattractive in the whole Salvia genus. It is a very untidy, sprawling plant, and in a warm and humid climate, can rapidly get out of control. Great for those who wish to grow it for non-ornamental reasons. However, IF it can be grown in the right conditions, the flowers are awesome! But very difficult to see flowers in the UK. I often get flower buds, but they always abort here, so I have given up with this, along with Salvia recurva, which seems to require similar conditions.

Robin, they had plants in pots, which never reflects the mature habit, so I must admit I don't have a well rounded view of it. My entire garden could be described as untidy and sprawling, though, so part of the attraction is probably me. (I've always blamed my horticultural chaos on growing up in Florida's subtropical/tropical 'Sunshine City'.) I'm pretty sure the ID was correct as they also have it in the Duke University Botany Dept greenhouse, where it has flowered in the past. I was never able to get over there to see it in bloom, but the foliage was the same.

I also like dissonance in both music and in the garden, so I would understand completely if the rest of the world thought it was garden-unworthy. I hate seeing the plant represented photographically on the internet by 'growers' using poor cultural practices, though. It really doesn't seem fair.