Salvia x 'Ultra Violet' is a remarkable colored plant

A few of us came in Sunday morning to go on Richard Olsen's impromptu tour for Sean Hogan who flew in from the west coast Saturday night to speak in the Friends of the National Arboretum Distinguished Lecture Series. Sean is the owner of Cistus Nursery, an accomplisihed horticulturist, plant collector, and designer. His talk wasn't until 2:00, so a few of us toured the Asian Collections. Cistus Nursery is one of those nurseries whose catalogue incites me to a covetous frenzy. And it's just a black and white list with brief interesting descriptions. It was fun comparing our relative climates and how differently the same plants perform on our respective sites.

A little group who arrived early, including me, walked through the Herb Garden where we saw among other things, this insane colored Salvia hybrid. It was selected by Lauren Springer Ogden, designer and plantswoman par excellence, and Scott Ogden, her husband, a great plantsman and the author of one of my favorite books, Garden Bulbs for the South. The plant apparently appeared in their garden; they think likely it is a cross between Salvia greggii and Salvia lycoides. Its a vigorous large plant and today it was covered with these flowers that are, if anything, more colorful than I have captured them.

Though the Herb Garden was wonderful in its entirety, the Salvias, the Peppers, and the new Rose Garden were particularly nice.

Buddleia colvellei, from the Himalayas is considered to be the beauty of the genus

This plant is in flower at the top of China Valley about 15' off the road at the north end of the top bed. Because it reputedly flowers on old growth and isn't really hardy here, this may be your last chance to see these flowers. These buds then would have formed last year and survived the winter because we kept it in a polyhouse that we don't quite allow to freeze, essentially giving it a Zone 8 winter.

I expect I'll cage it later this year with leaves and see if we can bring some woody growth through the winter. We do have our occasional Zone 8 winters so there's reason for hope.