A World of Salvias HomePage

Update December 18, 2018:

It is with a heavy heart that we share news of the passing of Richard Dufresne, 75, who passed away this month at his home in Candor, North Carolina. Tony Avent has shared a remembrance here.


Update March 19, 2016:

Here is the current Salvia Availability List, in PDF format:

Here is the download link for a fillable PDF order form (do not use the browser Acrobat Reader plug-in unless you just want a hard copy.)  Instead, open the Reader program to access the editing function. A button to exercise this option should appear at the top of the browser plug-in.

When done, rename, save a copy, then send the filled order in as an email attachment.
Blank Fillable Order Form


A new Salvia for 2016 -  Salvia greggii alba x involucrata


Update March 20, 2013:

I just returned from the second Salvia Summit at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.  Here is a picture of the three Salvia web page amigos, Rolando Uria, myself, and Robin Middleton:

Rolando Uria, myself, and Robin Middleton

A new Salvia availbility list is up for March 20.  Propagation is slowing a bit because of a prolonged cold spell.

The new March 2 Salvia Availability List also has updated links for patent protected Salvias.

I've had extraordinary luck  taking and rooting cuttings, starting in late December.  It has continued through until now, which is when spring starts to break. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center claims we will have a warm March and spring.   We'll see!

2012 was a very busy year, with my re-acquiring new stock plants of those lost during the move two years ago.  The inventory of my available plants has vastly improved, with more coming, both new and old.  As of this coming week, I will have many of the old standbys in quantity, and a handful each of most of the rare ones as well, with more in the propagating bench. 

I will be posting links to downloads of PDF and MS Word versions of the Plant Availability list on this page, as well as a rough draft of my Salvia Placard Book (in PDF format only) for those who want to know about the culture of the new and rare ones before purchase. 

General Plant Availability List dowload:     PDF
 
RTF (for MS Word or other word processor)

The placard book is going to need a lot of work, due to the explosion of new species available, thanks to many people and organizations, especially Robin Middleton, Rolando Uria, Christian Froissart, the folks at Cabrillo, Plant Delights Nursery, and other nearby and remote botanical gardens.  Also, I will be incorporating the changes in the USDA zones to adjust plant hardiness estimates

In the meanwhile, the new Placard Book entries will be my best estimation of culture and use.  I welcome as always both positive and negative feedback. So, as usual, I'll be collecting information from all of my contacts on the culture of these plants, to fine-tune the information going into the Salvia Placard Book.

Of course, I can send the Plant Availbility list and Placard Book to anyone requesting it as an email attachment.

To place orders, it will be best to copy and paste requested items from the Plant Availability list into an email post or to use one of the downloadable forms (MS Word) or PDF.  I've been able to create a fillable version of the PDF order form  using Adobe (Acrobat) Reader X or XI.  There is a trick to using Reader X, though:  you need to create a signature and apply it to complete and send and/or save the completed form.  This does not apply to Reader XI

I still accept both checks and PayPal as forms of payment, and will hopefully add credit cards through PayPal's service this summer.  Depending on the details  and costs of getting a smart phone and attaching a card reader, I may be able to take cards at festivals.

Visits to the nursery will not be possible except for special circumstances, and anyone who wants to pick up plants will be able to do so at the Rock House. The nursery is now a mile away in Candor.  I will be keeping a modest selection of plants behind my residence for pick-up, as well as orders filled by request, with at least two days warning.

Please use the Embarq email account from now on.  I am  living at the Rock House in Candor and will take care of communications from there.  I do have a track phone, but will give this number out only for special situations. 

My current contact information and email address is:


Richard F. Dufresne
2119 US 220 Alternate South
Candor, NC   27229
910-974-4009

Download Links

PDF version of the Plant Availability list
MS Word (Rich Text - RTF) version of the Plant Availability list (loadable into most word processors)
PDF version of a rough draft of the next edition of the Salvia Placard Book (the external links don't work; the TOC links work) - currently available only on request

Upcoming Activities

I won't have time to fully update the site until the spring festival season is over.   I will make critical updates and be repairing the links to the old site as time permits. 

I have been able to get an early start on propagation this winter and hope the new batchs of rooted cuttings will continue growth over the rest of the winter and early spring.  I will also be fine-tuning the overwintering facilities of the nursery, so I can have more plants available for earlier in the shipping season. 

Salvia Summit 2013

The Salvia Summit runs through March 7 - 10 at the Huntington Library and Botanical Garden in San Morino, CA (near Pasadena)

I will be there, and will meet old friends as well as finally meeting new ones like Rolando and Robin face to face for the first time.

I already know I will be bringing back at least one new sage I have been lusting for - S. gesneriflora x madrensis, which has yellow flowers. As of 3/20/13, it is doing well.

The registration forms are at the Seedhunt web site (www.seedhunt.com). Go to the site and look in the upper left corner.  There's a blue box with Salvia Summit in it.  Click on that and it will take you to Ginny's Summit page with links to info and the registration form.

From the First Salvia Summit (August 2008)

The web site for a Travelogue of the Salvia Summit at Cabrillo College (August 2008) is still up, and has been moved to the same server as this site.  There are 53 images of Salvias at Cabrillo College and four of the garden tour sites.  There are no back links on this section of the World of Salvias to the business sections, so I can quote  this portion to business-restricted popular forums and comply witht their TOS.. 

Cabrillo has the largest institutional collection of Salvias in North America.

Plans for the web site

I hope to add other travelogues.  Unless there are greenhouse exhibits, there will be little to show for the upcoming Salvia Summit.  I am planning a study of the effects of last year's drought on the Salvias of the J C Raulston Arboretum (NCSU) in Raleigh, NC to give viewers an example of what to expect for sages in the southeastern USA.

I am going to try again to make a major upgrade on this web site during the summer, updating links and adding more features.  I hope to add a digital photo section as well, now that I have a nice camera.  I hope to double to triple the number of galleries of sages, especially for the newer and more popular ones, with comments on their horticultural uses.

Another section will deal with the construction of the parts of my nursery, such as tables, coldframes, small greenhouses, and tricks to save propane fuel and protect plants from early and late frosts. My goal here is to share methods of managing a plant collection and/or back yard nursery for collectors and small nurseries

One new section I will add will be a definition of the various horticultural biomes for Salvias, based on their native growing conditions.  Even within botanic provences, there are a number of different biomes.  An example of this would be the west versus east sides of mountain ranges, like the Eleven Sisters ranges of northeastern Mexico, extending south from Monterrey and Saltillo to Orizaba in Vera Cruz (the Sierra Madre Orientale).  Sages on the eastern (cloud forest) side can have different tolerances from those on the high desert west side (central Mexican plateau).

Comments about the Botanic Garden and Nursery Link page: 

Major cleanup needed -This is the page to visit for links to other sites about Salvias and botany utilities in general.  Utilities include online Herbaria, botanic dictionaries, nomenclature, taxonomy, floral databases, and sites dealing with conventions in these areas.  Also there are links to utilities to determine weather, download contour maps, and define plant pathogens to aid plant collectors in the field and horticulturists.  Many of the questions asked on both the various Salvia forums can be answered here and on the Salvia FAQ and Utility pages.  I will be reworking these pages as I add to them later this spring and summer.
 


Check out these two Salvia web sites. 

The newest Salvia web site is Rolando Uria's salvias.com.ar/   He has near-perfect growing conditioins for the sages he grws there.

The second is an outstanding site from Robin Middleton of England, who is maintaining a greenhouse where he has one of the best European collections of Salvias.  His web site, Robins Salvias, has a gallery of over 600 images of Salvias, many not found in cultivation in the United States. 

Working together and separately, as well as with many others, Robin and Rolando are responsible for many of the new introductions.

The Salvia Research Network, an effort of the Botany Department of the University of Wisconsin- Madison, initiated by Dr. Ken Sytsma and Jay B. Walker is no longer available

And this forthcoming dynamic, searchable flora of North America:

For information on the forthcoming second edition of the Synthesis of the North American Flora. see Dr. John Kartesz' web site for the Biota of North America Program (BONAP).  It will have phytogeographic information down to the county level, ample illustrations, and should be out sometime in the first half of 2008.

Web Sites Monitored

I now regularly visit the Dave's Garden as well as the Yahoo and Garden Web Salvia forums.  I also may start visiting hummingbird forums like the one on Network 54 soon and would like your recommendations for other sites and blogs that I should visit .

Links to Other World of Salvia Pages:

A Gallery of Salvias Main Index and First VolumePlacard BooksList of Plants for Sale and Order Forms

Salvia FAQ PagesDirections and MapsUtility Pages

Links to Botanic Gardens and Nurseries2001:  The Year of the Salvia

Mission statementCollage of individual Salvia flowers; taxonomic uses

Living Herbarium Prints

Links to Living Herbarium Pages:

Digital Files for Sale - Living HerbariumThe First Living Herbarium Print LibraryOrdering Information

Living Herbarium Home PageThe Story Behind the Living Herbarium Prints


Placard Books

My horticultural contributions to the Salvia and herb literature include three self-published data bases in a placard format with 12 fields of information on each entry.  Each placard is a table that can be used for signage, although it is most used as a grower's reference by collectors, botanic gardens, and nurseries.  Enter the placard book site for more information.

Placard Books

If time permits, I will convert the placard book to Acrobat (PDF) format with active links to my web page and additional images.  The links will be both internal and to external web sites.  I plan to issue this publication on a CD-ROM.

Book Reviews
Botanic Gardens
Herbarium & Flora Data Base Links
Nurseries
Some Collages of Individual Salvia Flowers

Festival Attendance for 2011

Here is the schedule of plant festivals, sales, and presentations I will either attend or contribute to during the year 2009:

2003 Calender of Presentations, Plant Festivals, and Sales

They will pretty much be the same as last year's festivals.  I have found some new ones for next year in Virginia, and hope that schedules will work.


There iare Salvia Email discussion groups!!  For Yahoo's, go to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Salvia

Subscribe at: Salvia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Also check out the Salvia forum on GardenWeb:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/salvia/

And the Agastache and Salvias forum on Dave's Garden:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/salvias/all/

Please visit the Web pages for full instructions