The pinnacle of Salvia blooms

As a collector of this genus, I had been looking for Salvia divinorum for a long time. When I finally found a grower that would sell me a couple of cuttings of this plant, I grabbed them. It is also a potent psychoactive plant that has been hijacked by the "hunting for a buzz" crowd. So it is now grown in many nurseries that dry it and sell the leaves....basically as a hallucinogenic substitute for illegal substances.

Betsy Clebsch, in her book on the genus Salvia has stated that she had never even heard of this plant being seen in bloom outside of its habitat in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, and tried several times to get it to bloom in her greenhouse and was never successful. Others I respect as plantsmen and women have also tried and never got this plant to bloom.

Well, as I know it right now from email conversations with a few plant curators at botanical gardens in New York, Canada, and here in CA, it has never been seen in bloom in captivity......until now.

I happily share with all of my perennial friends what is widely considered as the holy grail of Salvia flowers. They've been blooming now for a few weeks and before I would show them here I made sure with some authorities that needed to see them in bloom and verify that they are true to the species. They are and here is a pic. This is a huge treat for us as we really love the genus and avidly collect and enjoy it.

hope everyone is enjoying the holidays,
don

We're hoping to produce some seed. We use beneficial insects in the greenhouse for pest control, and many of the adult beneficials are nectar and pollen feeders. We are hoping that some seed will come from this bloom cycle.

I've also done a little hand pollinating, but since the flowers have a bit of a unique morphology, I can't be sure it will be successful.

A macro that shows clearly the purplish color of the calyces. The flower itself is pure white and fuzzy/tomentose like those of other subtropical species.

The foliage shows the aphid infestations I've actually encouraged on these plants in order to get better colonization of beneficial insect populations. Metal halide and high pressure sodium lights are turned on over these plants at 4:30am and run until the sun is high enough to support the plants.

Can you tell I'm beside myself with excitement?...lol. Me beside myself takes up a lot of room...lol.

best to all,
don

GOOD FOR YOU! A breakthrough! Congratulations, dr! I completely understand since I have been trying for 2 years to get a chinese aril iris to bloom for the first time in the US! Where can you let folks know it can be done besides DG.

hiya boojum,

big 06 hug!

Indeed, DG is truly a place for sharing one's excitement. I've kept it quiet until I had professional verification and now that I have it I'm yelling from mountain tops....lol.

Here it is telling Maxillaria curtipis that orchids aren't always the belle of the ball...lol.

Ha! I can hear that flower whispering, "you're not as important as I am."

Don, love that pale lavender color of the salvia. It is very pretty. Good job! I bet it is exciting to finally get thingls like that to bloom or even grow. Will keep looking when you post pictures of the salvias.
Carol

drdon,
Great job, pat yourself on the back! Great things come to those who wait patiently!
Lea

Congratulations are in order. I tip my hat to a world class grower.
Incidently, I found your editorial on ethnobotanicals located over in diary quite interesting.
J

Good morning all,

It's really a big deal for us to see this thing blooming and we both find ourselves inside the greenhouse more often right now to marvel at the flowers and I'm more likely now to take my lunch and afternoon tea in there just to see the show. My hand lens gets a lot more use these days also looking for insects inside the flowers doing anything that might cause pollen transfer to the female parts of the flowers.

I love it when experts say something cannot be done....lol. Requests for photos keep pouring in and I really do wish I was a better photographer however.

best to all,
don

Dr D,

Not that I claim to be a better photographer - but I'd love to shoot a few pictures of it for you. It would give us a chance to catch up a bit after the long holiday and your hiatus to the Yucatan.

lol@ better photographer........

I can't take a good picture to save my life.....lol. You've got a deal Hardwood. Come on over.

best,
don

I'll get with my better half and figure out a time sometime this weekend... we'll give you a call..

BR,
Matt

Deal!

Would be great to see you guys.

best,
don

This is so exciting, thanks for sharing the pics. I am frustrated by a lack in that area myself. Still chuckling at your comment "me beside myself takes up a lot of room"! Me too, oh well, more of us to love, LOL. Congratulations on a job well done!

Doc, do you ever wear red suspenders? For some reason I have this mental image of you with your thumbs hooked in red suspenders and a great big grin on your face.

*Pats Doc on the back* I'm so pleased for you!

mg

hiya mg,

good to see you over here.

No suspenders here, but if I get any older I might go for some of those adult diaper things and then consider suspenders to hold the diapers up.

These bones creak like the front door of a haunted mansion in the mornings...lol.

best to you,
don

Hey you!

Get back in bed, if it is still dark here it has to be darker there!

mg

lol mg,

I've already been at work this morning. Friday mornings is my morning to feed horses. So this day starts very early. One morning a week Pam and I each give Carlos a break and let him sleep in until 5am....lol. You know that farm work starts early and ends late, and never seems to end. Good job security....lol.

Keep those feet warm,
don

DrDon......I ran into the same thing on a hunt for a few lesser known salvias last year...most information that came up was on how to dry the leaves or how the make a spiritual Friday night tea (but cautions to have a friend with you when you drink it-yipes) I finally found one place that had the plants, but couldnt ship it to certain states in America. Hmmm....
So, I gave up, and went with other blooming plants (the bloom being what I was after anyway)...
Congratulations on your find, good luck with your ventures.

hiya MerryMary,

nice to meet you.

Certain plants that have psychotomimetic compounds in them seem to be the 'hangouts' of the "Friday Night Tea...lol" crowd indeed. The psychoactive compounds in S. divinorum are incredibly potent and very dangerous indeed in those very hands and the plant will probably soon be outlawed (Legislation is in the works now). I'm not sure which is worse..the stoney crowd looking for a new high or the bonehead lawmakers that actually believe they can legislate a living thing into obscurity...lol.

You have the perfect climate for this plant and many other subtropical Salvias there. It's a shame you were unable to find the plant because the flowers really are something to behold.

best,
don

Outlawing plants will never work, the deed associated with them is what they will have to worry about. Otherwise, Brugs will be banned soon, and farmers will have to follow their cattle with pooper scoopers so no mushrooms develop....
:)
Mary

Yep......I can see it now.......The War On Plants.......lol. As if we don't have enough silly slogans that mean nothing in our lives these days...lol.

Send me a Dmail, I'd love to talk to you further about this.

best,
don

Hey Doc,
I'll send you some of my aphids from my honeysuckle vine in spring.
You need some winter to get those stoners back inside - they hate the cold.
Al

Dumb stoners have no clue about plant. All they know is how to put a seed in dirt and grow it. The only know slavia divinorum as "salvia" and have no clue what sage is.