S

Named for the Mexican State of Sinaloa, this compact and showy blue-flowered Salvia is like having a festive small mariachi band in your garden. Well-drained soil is a must as cold, heavy soil in winter will be the Day of the Dead. Just 8"-10" tall and a bit wider, purple calyces and purple-tinted leaves add allure.

Well, this is one name for this plant which can be found listed under an array of aliases and in the final reckoning, none may be right as recent DNA work with specific hybridity analytical software suggests this is a stable natural hybrid and should be the species S. lantoscana. Of course more recent work we haven't seen might have tossed this proposal in the dumpster but regardless, this is a very good silver encrusted Saxifrage from the Maritime Alps with full 12" panicles of white flowers and was granted an Award of Garden Merit. Rock gardens and troughs, this would beautifully fill a 3-4 inch crevice between rocks.

One of the many forms of Saxifraga paniculata from the mountains of Europe. We received this with the name of 'Freckles' but find no reference to this name in the various sources where if it were valid, it would be listed. Therefore we assume it is a synonym of 'Punctata' as both refer to the heavy sprinkling of red dot on the petals of the white flowers. Excellent trough or rock garden plant and wouldn't mind a little shade during the hottest blaze of the day although we grow ours in full sun but never let them dry out.

Saxifraga cochlearis is native to the southeastern Alps and this form 'Major' is speculated to be a hybrid with S. callosa which would account for its extra vigor. Not a bad thing at all! This makes clustered rosettes of foliage encrusted in silvery deposits and has white flowers in spring. Good in a trough or rock garden.

This used to be var. kolenatiana from the Caucasus but this widely distributed circumarboreal species has had the species equivalent of a taxonomic black hole occur with numerous varieties, subspecies and genera all ascribed to this one species being sucked into the vast maw of botany never to be seen again. White flowers on 7"-10" stems.

Robust Salvia from a Hinkley collection at high elevation in Sichuan. This is a tough perennial which will increase in width with the large leaves acting as a weed suppressing shield. Rosy-purple flowers, at least as I remember them, are held nicely above the leaves in mid summer. Prefers light shade to a little sun.

Rarely does a first glance at a plant so completely peel off the veneer of civility with such an instantaneous upwelling of lust, greed, larceny and deceit as this one: "OMG! I gotta have this - I need at least three - damn - only 2 left - I'll pinch one out of that person's box - who, me?" Black purple leaves and ruby pink flowers in August-October.

Hummingbird Sage. A California native perennial Sage that can take sun or some dry shade as this will grow under California live oaks. California shade is notably brighter than our Washington shade. This will get 16"-28" tall with rose-pink flowers appearing out of prominent dark calyces and will creep rhizomatously to 4' or so across. Hummingbird banquet and deer proof.

This recent introduction is likely a hybrid of S. umbrosa 'Primuloides' and S. paniculata and is an exceptionally neat plant in appearance with tidy rosettes of leaves edged in a pale dentition. Lightest pink flowers set off by darker pink eyes and pink stamens held on short pink stems. Great rock garden plant for north or east exposure with a bit of lime.

Double Blood Root. One of the great ephemeral spring flowers with double white waterlily flowers and bold gray-green rounded leaves. Beloved woodlander from the Midwest and the double form is especially covetous. These are flowering-sized freshly potted divisions and will settle right in your garden.

Tender perennial from Brazil but easy to overwinter inside and worth every effort. This late bloomer has 6"-10" spikes of rusty red flowers jutting above dark green heavily textured foliage. Give those Asters something to idolize. Thanks to Beverley Merrifield for sharing unintentionally.

This choice Chinese perennial is related to our native Ginger or Asarum and Saruma being an anagram of Asarum shows that even taxonomists are not above the occasional botanical hijink.. Felty heart shaped foliage bronze when young and half inch yellow flowers right away in spring continues to bloom through the summer. These succeeds nicely in Chicago which seems like Siberia to us softies here in the PNW. This is easy..