Hi Sarah, I got one from them too. Looks the same as yours.
Though mine isn't liking the humidity right now, if it dies I won't try it again. Yours looks good.

Thanks Helena it certainly is different looking ! Sarah

Maybe because it's still a young plant. I read on the Las Pilitas site that after the first year it'll probably die if it gets water in summer. That's why I don't have a lot of hope for my plant.

Oh really I guess me too up north we get the remnants of all the hurricanes I hope Dennis didn't do much damage to you or where you live. Althogh we aren't as hot as you we get alot of rain too. Sarah

I love CA salvias, wish they would grow here. We get weeks of dry spells and then days of rain. Luckily we only had a bit of wind and rain from Dennis but everybody is afraid of another hurricane coming our way. I was tempted to try the s. pachyphylla like you knowing that it might not make it here.

My Salvia pachyphylla looks a lot more grey-leaved and the flower arrangement is different. I don't remember what it looked like in the first season, though. One warning: If you live in Northern Nevada, IGNORE the Las Pilitas advice about no water in summer. In Northern Nevada, even cacti, yuccas and agaves need a little water in summer. I know. I've managed to kill all of them with too little water.

S. pachyphylla doesn't need a LOT of water, though--I have mine planted on a lump of sand covered with rocks in a particularly dry (and somewhat shady) area of the garden. If I lived anywhere but Northern Nevada, I'd probably never have to water it. EVERYWHERE else is wetter (our average ANNUAL rainfall is 7 inches, and right now our humidity has been running from 11 to 17 percent).

Sure doesn't look like mine, but I suspect in non-Mediterranean climates where it gets too much rain/water and humidity, it may be greener and lankier than in its native habitat in California. Here, the leaves turn almost white in summer and the bush is compact and the bracts notably rosy. Here, the bush gets no water/no rain for six months and is largely dormant by late summer.

David

It's beautiful I have a feeling I will loose mine like the western penstemons it likes it drier than my damp climate every day here in the summer we have a chance of rain today it rained and the humidity is 80 percent oh well I should stick with Pennsylvania natives. Sarah

mine does great here in south TX.I recieved it in a trade from a garden buddy in MI.I just LOVE the color.The bed its in has some clay in it I've mixed sand& compost in,the beds 1 yr old.It was rained in when recieved by Ivan as he passed through.I do water my beds daily.We're on well water back here(draws out out of a private spring fed lake)Its done well,I wish it would grow bigger faster.I'll have to look for my picture of it& not sure if have a close up,may just be a shot of that section of flower bed(I do a shot month-by-month of blooms)We have high humidity all the time also.I'd love more of them.anyone rooted a stem off theirs with any luck??

My foliage is silver green but the flowers are the same. Does anybody know anything about deadheading this beauty?

Please stop writing about the absolutely gorgeous Salvia pachyphylla, as it just will not flower in the UK!!!

The plant will look reasonably healthy, but absolutely refuses to flower over here. I have tried it in variable conditions, with the accent on warmth and dry conditions, and it does not want to know! Grrrrr!!!

Robin.

Robin, there's a "rule" about UK vs. Nevada gardens, or at least there's one I concocted after visiting the UK in October:

Whatever thrives on neglect in the UK will simply fade away and die here. Whatever thrives on neglect in Nevada won't quite fade away in the UK, but it will look absolutely awful. After a long stroll through Harlow Carr, I was immensely proud of my Hostas (hardly a damaged leaf to be seen, and most of them absolutely enormous) and my roses (NO blackspot in MY garden--and I don't have to spray), but I saw plants I simply KNEW I couldn't grow well here like Gunnera manicata thriving. Okay, so I also took notes on plants I thought *might* do well with a bit of water here, and duly bought and planted them all. Most are still alive, some even looking happy and healthy.

To EuphorbFreak: My S. pachyphylla looks exactly like yours, except it doesn't go dormant in late summer. That's when it blooms best here.

You guys make me jealous! At least you can try to grow it! I've yet to see it here in Australia but I'll be searching hard now. I've just started collecting the California salvias and am crazy about the fragrances. Even started seeds of carduacea but only a few have survived so far - really too early to sow but I couldn't wait - just tooooo impatient for spring!
Cait

The green plant is certainly a relative of pachyphylla, and may be a hybrid. Give it time, though. I think Salvia dorii has green bracts.

One variable may have a profound effect on the brilliance of the colors of bracts - night time coolness. The same plant (Origanum rotundifolium Kent Beauty, for instance) will be mostly green for me in subtropical North Carolina, and absolutely brilliant in a California climate where the dry air allows deep cooling at night. Plants from the latter areas do not have a light-driven mechanism to stop assimilation. Where there is a narrower range of temperatures, the metabolism that use the products of photosynthesis for growth are forced to slow down or shut off during dark. Then there is little left to produce pigments in bracts and robust floral displays, and the plants become stressed.