in 1990 , 3 years after we began our gardens here, we won the best of show in an amateur gardening contest sponsored by Boston mag and Mass Hort Soc. Our photo was published in Boston mag. and we were sent to Holland for a week- for our prize. there we discovered the incredible world of conifers- when we visited the world famous Trompenberg Arboretum. when i returned from that trip, i was hired to design 5 other (small)gardens, which i did. Now, The Cotton-Arbo retum is more than I can handle!
best, Mindy

That's so neat, Mindy! And I do want to see your Cotton-Arbo retum!

Mindy,
That's a wonderful prize!! I hope to make a road trip to see your Arbo retum some time this summer...

I'm in Springfield MA, and, every summer the Wednesday edition of the newspaper features a local garden. There's no prize involved, just exposure of what different folks are doing. My garden was featured in 2004, and I told the reporter that I like to do container gardening (no more room in the ground!!;)), and start plants from seed. That article started my friendship with a 90-year old woman from the next town. She read the article, looked up my telephone number, and called me...to ask if I would be interested in growing some of her giant red salvias (6 feet tall). At first I declined, not being a fan of red salvia, but she talked me into it. I won't bore you with the full story, but, if you're interested, here's a link to the group of people who are continuing the strain. If you go to the "Files" section, and read member's stories, my full story is there. Those of you who frequent the Seed Exchange forum may already be familiar with it.
So, that was my prize--a friendship that wouldn't have been, if it weren't for my garden!
Emily

Here is a link that might be useful: Salvia group/story

Mskee--what an interesting story--and photo on the link. Do you know anything about this salvia? I have never heard of six-foot salvia before. Has anyone done any research on it? How tall is the species, as opposed to various cultivars?

Great stories - Mindy and Emily! Emily have you sent a seed sample to Ed at The Fragrant Path? He sells a lot of unusual old fashioned seeds and people are always sending him seeds. He may be able to help you identify it also. It would be a way to get the seeds to more people and make sure it is preserved.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Fragrant Path Seeds

Posted by arbo_retum z5 ,WinchstrMA (My Page) on Wed, Jun 14, 06 at 17:26

<.....> in 1990 , 3 years after we began our gardens here, we won the best of show in an amateur gardening contest sponsored by Boston mag and Mass Hort Soc. Our photo was published in Boston mag. and we were sent to Holland for a week- <.....>

Ah, yes, Mindy! Great memories. You deserved to win. We were happy to "send you away" (LOL) to Holland. Can't wait to see the 2006 ARBOretum. ~ Hilda

Ginny and Sue,
I don't want to "hijack" this thread, but to answer your questions...this salvia was originally purchased by my friend Yvonne, through Parks seeds. Probably about 20+ years ago. She intended to purchase a regular red, height topping out about 18 inches or so. She cultivated the seeds from one "mutant," which got abnormally tall, and continued to grow just those plants. Last year, I had one 7-footer.
I do not know what the cultivar is, and, as yet, the group has been unable to determine it definitively. I have seen a salvia guarantica advertised to be 5 feet, but it's blue, I think.
Sue,
Thanks for the tip on sending the seeds to "The Fragrant Path." I will definitely look into that!
There are lots of people around the country, and in other countries as well, who are working on continuing this strain.
Going back to the original idea on this thread, I submitted this story ( a year or so ago)to "Birds and Blooms," and some other publication...but nobody seemed interested. Garden web members are the best and most helpful, I find! The people on this map are all from GW.

Here is a link that might be useful: location map for 2005-2006

What great stories! Mindy and Emily, thank you for sharing them.

As for the contest, I'd happily enter a photo, but then I'd be deathly afraid that they'd send someone down to look at my garden, and they'd see what a mess it is overall. Don't know if everyone feels that way: I can shoot pictures in every corner that look good, but somehow the overall effect never quite gets where it's supposed to go.

Mskee--I did some Googling. I assume your salvia is the standard red salvia used everywhere in bedding out. That is Salvia splendens. I read pages of Google and couldn't find anything to match the size of your plants. It is amazing and so interesting. Have you tried People, Places, Plants magazine? They ought to be interested in at least a photo and caption, and who knows what info might tumble out? Keep us posted.