Hi Bob,

I would be more than happy to supply salvia seeds or others to you if we could trade for some of your native species of Turkey...I have not ever seen S. involucrata seeds before in mail order companies, only plants. Send me an email if you are interested...thanks!

Joseph

Hi Bob,

I can heartily recommend Seedhunt in California as the best source of unusual Salvia seeds. My S. involucrata occasionally sets a few seeds in the UK, but they often seem to hybridise, and the results have not been impressive. Just look at www.seedhunt.com for the list.

There are several Turkish Salvias which are highly sought-after in the UK, in particular S. kronenbergii and S. hydrangea. S. bracteata is another. We have the occasional S. multicaulis and S. albimaculata available. I was given seed of the elusive S. hydrangea....but it was not even a Salvia!!! I have seen pictures of S. kronenbergii on the Turkish Van florasi site, and have written to them asking about the possible availability of seeds, but did not get an answer.

It is not easy for Turkish Salvias to thrive in a British climate, but I have had good results with S. aucheri, S. pisidica (this is a beauty), and S. cyanescens. S. albimaculata flowered and was really great...then it died! I was able to collect a few strange-looking seeds.

I would also be happy to obtain seeds of the rare Turkish species, and would happily trade any available seeds that I have.

Regards, Robin.

Thanks for all the answers both public and private. If you can send me a list of salvias of Turkey and locations I may be able to help. I should say that I am not able to do lots of traveling around the country - as in just hopping over to Van. :) It's a big place.

Take care

bob

Bob,

My involucrata flowers too late in the year to set seeds. Maybe if I can trade for some, I'd be able to send some on to you.

Joseph