Of course this is not the salvia's common name. The folks at plant delights, have a type of humour that I find amusing and entertaining, even though many people don't (check their 'hate' messages at http://www.plantdelights.com/New/bad.html).
I believe it is a free world for them to express themselves, as it is for you as well to express that you don't like what they're saying.
Nevertheless they're very succesfull in their business, and I at least congratulate them for that.

A 'fan' of plant delights.
Dariot JR

Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue' (Domestic Violence Anise Sage)
No, I too don't find this the least amusing.

oh OK, i get it, so they spend their free time getting a reaction out of everyone they possibly can, just for kicks... and relishing in all the hate mail they get, even posting it online for all to see... well, i'm embarrassed for them.
yes, it certainly is a free country (more or less) and there's nothing wrong with being amusing and entertaining and not too-overly PC... but why on earth they would want to offend as many people as possible and lose business is beyond me. and i still don't see what's funny about naming a flower "domestic violence salvia".. it's just stupid and utterly tasteless.

too bad, that's a beautiful flower, but their name ruins it for me. who wants to think about domestic violence when looking at their flowers....???

?????????

I think it offensive and I can have a pretty sick sense of humor. Apparently they don't personally know anyone who has been abused - I'm sure they'd dump the name if they did. Or at least I would hope they would.
To joke about that kind of thing in private is one thing, but to flaunt it for all to see, well, in my opinion shows bad taste and a lack of character. Pity if some folk start using that moniker.
As salvia collectors maybe we do have a responsibility to not allow this kind of callousness enter our 'world'.
Cait

hmmm.. it seems that many people have a different opinion. Personally I believe that humour is limitless, and highly subjective in any given population or any given time.

This is NO way in support of domestic violence (of course!). I think that people who get offended by the particular joke, do so just because they combine the 'humour' part with the 'support' part. I think we should keep the two parts at a different part of our brain, and everything will be more simple. Or else -just think about stuff that you laugh at everyday- every type of humour is just offensive!

Dariot JR

'Black and Blue' is available from many sources, and 99.9% of them will be less expensive than PD. Sorry you were offended. Tony (the owner) is just trying to get attention and make a buck.

I wondered about it too when I first saw it and I'm sure if there was any history of that type of violence in my family I would have been offended. There's more reference to sex and politics in that catalogue than in any I've ever seen. I find the humor generally playfull, and since by and large I agree with the sentiments, I am in no way offended. Other than the unfortunate B&B comment, I believe the author is telling us all something about what he stands for, and is trying to inject some much needed humor into our cultures hyper serious political shouting match. This is the first year I've had a chance to read his catalogue, but several friends say they always look forward to getting the new winter issue; that they wish more publications struck his tone.

but again, humor is all well and good, but how is naming a flower "domestic violence" adding some "well-needed humor" into a plant catalog.........??????

i guess i just come from another universe.

If you like/liked MAD magazine, then you will like the text (and the cover) of Plant Delights' catalogs. If you don't like that kind of snarky, nothing-is-sacred humor, you won't appreciate Plant Delights' text or covers.

Plant Delights caters to some very hard-core gardeners, and my experience with hard-core gardeners is that they have very liberal (not necessarily in the political sense) senses of humor. You HAVE to have a sense of humor after the neighbor's cocker spaniel just ate your two-year-old two hundred dollar daylily just as it was about to bloom. You HAVE to have a sense of humor when there is snow forecast for the July 4 weekend (it happens here). Otherwise you would go mad. Okay, madder than you already are for buying 6 Alocasias because you have to have them ALL even though you have no room for them.

Personally, I prefer offensive humor. It comes from a long tradition that dates at least back to the Roman authors Juvenal and Ovid.

And just because I'm laughing at some very dark, very sick joke doesn't mean I approve of the issue being ridiculed (in this case, domestic violence--been there nursed those bruises). It just means it's still funny.

Mad magazine and Ovid in the same post, that's got to be a first for the salvia forum. I just looked at the latest GITMO cover and I see your point exactly. You're also sending me to my bookshelf to look for Ovid. Did he write The Golden Ass? I can't remember if he did, but that was a funny book. If I find him, I'll take him out to the garden and have a read. The salvias don't care what century it is, and hummingbird politics is at least direct.

In the past I have sent them some customers who were looking for live plants instead of seeds. I also bought plants from them when I lived in a warmer climate years ago. I won't do either again. Political humor does not bother me, but I do think that jokes about domestic violence, child abuse, rape, and other types of personal violence are just not funny. I wrote them an email about it. If they decide to put it up on their hate mail page, they had better ask my permission first. All email is copyright the owner and cannot be published anywhere without permission.