s. gesneriiflora 'Tequila'
s. guaranitica 'Omaha Gold'
s. africana-lutea
s. Mesa hybrid 'Purple'
s. blepharophylla
s. lemmonii
s. elegans 'Pineapple'
s. greggii 'Hot Lips'
s. involucrata x Kathy
s. superba 'Rose Queen'
s. jamensis 'Sierra San Antonio'
s. microphylla var. neurepia
s. splendens 'Dancing Flame'
s. mexicana 'Raspberry Truffle'
s. verbenacea
s. Waverly
s. brandegei
s. clevelandii
s. sp sl411
s. spathacea
Other micros and greggiis, other natives, and I think dorisiana is just starting..need to look out there tomorrow a.m.

S. gesneriiflora 'Tequila'
S. gesneriiflora (mountain form Strybing)
S. sprucei
S. dorisiana
S. lavanduloides
S. mexicana 'Huntington'
S. karwinskii x pulchella
S. disjuncta
S. cacaliaefolia

..my garden is sooooo small, but these guys sure fill it up nicely!

All of these Alta and Baja California salvias are in bloom now.

S. brandegei
S. brandegei hybrids
S. apiana (only San Diego Co. variety)
S. leucophylla x clevelandii
S. mellifera
S. mellifera x apiana (some but not all varieties)
S. mellifera x leucophylla
S. leucophylla
S. chionopeplica
S. chionopeplica x apiana (said to be natural hybrid in Baja)
S. dorrii
S. dorrii hybrids
S. Trident (dorrii/mohavensis/clevelandii)
s. "celestial blue" (pachyphylla/clevelandii/leucophylla)
S. chionophylla
S. x bernardina (mellifera/columbariae)
S. munzii (Emerald Cascade, "Baja Blue", etc.)
S. eremostachya
S. eremostachya hybrid
S. "Bee's Bliss"
S. spathacea

native California salvias are in heavy bloom here in SouthCentral CA and still waiting for more apiana, clevelandii, pachyphylla, mohavensis, "Carl Neilson", etc blooms later this spring!

Had one bloom on the azurea and the canariensis is holding on to the last of its flowers. karwinskii x involucrata is recovering after the early heatwave and is producing more leaves in preparation for the cooler weather. Anthony Parker is getting ready to bust out into its second flush of bloom... Just got to find some summer-blooming, drought-tolerant species... can anyone advise?

S. mellifera
S. leucophylla
S. "Dara's Choice"
S. spathacea

Flowering later this spring:
S. apiana
S. clevelandii
S. carduacea (an annual)

If I'm lucky, I'll have S. eremostachya in bloom by this time next year.

to ccroulet, the blooms on s. eremostachya are stunning, but i'm sure that you know this already. Did you acquire the cultivar "Mirage" w/ white and violet flowers on the same whorl? Good luck with your blooms for next year. I have not yet seen this species in the wild and I'm anxious to do so soon.

salviakeeper: I posted pix of wild-growing S. eremostachya in '08. Look for thread titled "Salvia eremostachya in California." My plants are grown from seed that I collected.

Thanks ccroulet. I looked at the thread and the incredible photos that you posted. The eremo petals are stunning. Also found your info on S. pachyphylla and greatae, both on my list of must-see's in the wild. I just may be mapping out my spring break road trip at the end of march in search of these wonders...and to find them in bloom would be a pot of gold. From your dates it seems that I may find eremostachya in bloom, perhaps the greatae too but maybe not pachyphylla species.

The mellifera in front here began nicely enough, but is now showing signs of water stress from El Nino pounding us in a way we rarely see. The brandegei is beautiful, but doesn't show up in my lame digipic here, the chiapensis is budding. Elsewhere in the yard, the clevelandiis and microphyllas are set to bloom soon, but the semiatrata looks leggy and unhappy and needs a new spot. I transplanted the spathaceas late, so we'll see.

{{gwi:137889}}

salviakeeper: It's hard for me to believe it's been almost a year since I shot those pix of S. greatae. It appeared to me that they were already well past peak bloom when I shot those pix on Mar 25, '09. This has been a cool winter (no freezes, but lots of cool days), so maybe they'll bloom a bit later this year. My garden salvia are blooming later. S. eremostachya should be in bloom right now. I'll have to zip out there and check. If you know where to look, there are some S. eremostachya right along Hwy 74, on the west side of the road (but those aren't in my pictures). Also S. vaseyi a bit further downhill towards Palm Desert. The photos don't correctly capture the blue color of the S. eremostachya. It's more intense than shown. S. pachyphylla, at least in the localities where I've seen it, is a summer bloomer. Aside from the S. pachyphylla in my pix in the Santa Rosa Mtns. (a rough ride to get up there), there are also some right along Hwy 38 in the San Bernardino Mtns. I've had no success growing S. pachyphylla from cuttings. I'll try again this year. One of my goals is to see all of the native Calif. salvias (the Audibertia group) in nature. Next up would be S. dorrii, S. funerea, S. mohavensis, S. spathacea & S. leucophylla. BTW, I also posted threads on S. apiana, S. sonomensis, S. vaseyi and S. clevelandii.

dicot: Most S. clevelandii in the trade, aside from selections like "Winnifred Gilman," are -- I'm convinced -- hybrids, or at least genetically contaminated. The hybrids bloom earlier than S. clevelandii in nature. In nature, S. clevelandii is a May/June bloomer. Mine, mostly grown from cuttings and seed taken in nature, aren't even budding yet. I'm in Temecula at elev. ca. 1140 ft.

I have blooms on s. mellifera (part I didn't radically prune), and s. spathacea is in bud, although it has suffered from attacks of a digging squirrel.

In the Manhattan Beach botanical garden, I know that the s. spathacea is blooming, but I don't recall the status of any of the others because the ceanothus blew me away.

to ccroulet,
sounds like we're on the same page, my goal too is to view all jepson guide salvias in their native habitat. I'm central CA, santa barbara county, and so i've seen spathacea, leucophylla, apiana, mellifera etc around here. I've been to mojave desert and seen mohavensis, dorrii, funerea out in the wild. I don't have a gps device but I can tell you where to find some of these species if you'd like.
As for the southern route, I will be searching S. vaseyi, greatae, eremostachya, pachyphylla...and from the looks of it, the first three of this list are in relative proximity in geographical location and bloom time.
It's really difficult to get true color for some of the flowers and eremostachya in particular. My "mirage" has distinct purple and white flowers on the same whorl and it's not nearly as apparent on the image as it is on the plant. Will post a few pix of mohavensis and dorrii here in the next little bit as they do cohabitat in certain areas. I've never seen natural hybrids however, and I guess their bloom times are quite different, dorrii being early spring, January in santa barbara, mohavensis later spring...almost summer. I had a bunch of images of S. funerea...until my external harddrive dropped on the floor...so I may have to run out to Funeral Mtns in Death Valley sometime here soon to retake.

Salviakeeper: On Mar 11, 2010, the Salvia eremostachya in the Pinyon Crest area of Riverside Co. were just starting to bloom. In some places the air was pungent with the scent of the foliage. The plant in the photo is at 33.61379N, 116.41519W, 3301 ft. elev. +- 66 ft., close to Hwy 74. You can see it (and many others) from the road, if you know what to look for. But you shouldn't take your eyes off the road :-)

The population of S. vaseyi further downhill is in a natural preserve. There's a tiny parking area off Hwy 74 (west side) for the preserve. It's a breeding area for desert bighorn sheep, and now there are signs posted saying the area is closed except for a small part of the year that doesn't include the blooming period. However, there is no physical barrier to entry. S. vaseyi are scattered on the slope south of the parking area. BTW, I forgot to mention that I also have photos in this forum of S. carduacea and S. sonomensis. Look for "Salvia [insert species] in California."

I've looked at the Consortium of California Herbaria for localities of S. dorrii, S. mohavensis and S. funerea, but I would indeed be interested in your localities. A couple of years ago I looked in listed localities for S. mohavensis and S. dorrii in Joshua Tree N.P. I found one S. dorrii but not mohavenis. I know there are other places further north.

WRT S. leucophylla, it occurs sparingly if at all in Riv. Co. Fires in Orange Co. swept through known populationsm, but I haven't gone there to look. There's a single record in Consortium and Calflora (same plant) in the Tierra Santa area of San Diego. I haven't seen the plant, but I get the impression it's a garden escape, since I've seen no indication of a population.

ccroulet: thanks a ton for the information. I'm very geared up to go and check out these populations. A couple of years ago I thought that I had actually found S. vaseyi in/around Anza Borrego area and came home with a few cuttings. Amazingly they took and when they bloomed, it was clear that they were actually S apianas, having a very different scent than the ones i find locally here and the flowers are purple speckled...which is really something to see.
Also, i attempted to upload pix of the S dorrii and S mohavensis but I'm in a slo learning curve and they are mini thumbnails...the site won't allow me to upload them again as pix.
Attaching here pix of Anza apiana flowers, pachyphylla, and Carl Neilson (dunno if you're interested in hybrids but this one is reportedly mohavensis x clevelandii). Hope it works this time around.

Here is a link that might be useful: Desert Salvias

S. vaseyi does occur in Anza-Borrego Desert SP. They've been reported by a botanist I know from canyons along the west side of Borrego Valley. IIRC, they also occur somewhere around the confluence of Grapevine Cr. and San Felipe Cr., just west of Yaqui Well. I haven't gone to look for those myself, however. S. apiana is pretty abundant at higher elevations on the west side of the SP. It is common in my area (Temecula) and many places in western Riv. Co. and northern S.D. Co., notably on the south side of Palomar Mtn. You can see it abundantly along South Grade Rd. (S6) and Hwy 76. "The Vascular Plants of Western Riverside County: An Annotated Checklist" by Roberts et al says S. apiana is now absent from many areas where it was abundant a half century ago. That may be true, but there's still a lot of it in the right areas.

ccroulet, Regarding the location of the S. dorrii and mohavensis, I just remembered that I Spot messengered from the area in which I found these two species in close proximity to one another. 35.08721,-115.48498 I drove north on the Kelso Cima Road from Kelso Station and turned right on the road heading to New York Mtns / Caruthers Cyn., another right on a dirt road about 2 miles in to Mexican Spring...where, unfortunately, there is a small stand of tamarisk ramosissima. I know my directions are sort of a shot in the dark but with gps you'd probably navigate no problem. The valley there is pretty burned up from the 2005 fire but you do find some of the washes in the bajada have not been touched and they are full of dorrii, mohavensis generally found higher up on the steeper slopes. You can actually access the pix in the link from my last posting above "Desert Salvias" and have a better look at the unusual dorrii form, found several in this small valley with similar leaf distribution on the stems.
Regarding the vaseyi, I will search it out in Anza. I think it's northern range is Santa Barbara County and we have it all over the mountains here mostly higher up on the slopes. The flowering stems are just beginning to shoot up here, and I haven't seen any flowers open at all whereas my Anza apianas are in full bloom, beginning the process probably in early to mid January. Interesting response to environmental conditions. Luckily there aren't many houses in this area on the higher slopes so the stands are pretty good.

S. vaseyi in Santa Barbara Co.? Calflora doesn't have it anywhere close to there. Right now I'm at a friend's place in Anza for a night of astro-imaging, and my Internet connection is kinda slow.

whoops. i meant to transition from vaseyi to apiana. Thanks for the note.

What I now have in bloom:

-Indigo Spires
-Waverly
-Van Houtteii 'Paul'

... and my Chiapensis is just about to bloom!

~Susan

I have Salvia leucantha 'Santa Barbara', Salvia leucophylla 'Pt Sal', Salvia spathacea, Salvia clevelandii and Salvia apiana 'Takara'. Salvia 'Takara' is a white sage-purple sage hybrid that looks like a white sage but with longer inflorescences that can completely enclose the flower stalk. With its purple sage parentage it is easier to grow from cutings than pure white sage. Only the Celeveland sage is still in bloom in my garden at this early July date.

S. clevelandii mainly. S. apiana still has a few flowers. The others (S. mellifera, S. "Dara's Choice," S. leucophylla, S. spathacea) are long done.

s. Indigo Spires
s. Waverly
s. leucantha
s. micorphylla
s. greggii
s. transsylvanica
s. cacaliifolia
s. sagittata
s. chamaedryoides Marine Blue
s. Anthony Parker
s. Jean's Purple Passion
s. gesneriiflora
s. gesneriiflora Tequila
s. interrupta
s. coahuilensis
s. buchananii
s. discolor
s. chamelaeagnea
s. africana
s. subrotunda
s. barrelieri
s. blepharophylla
s. miniata
s. guaranitica Costa Rica Blue
s. neurepia
s. canariensis
s. repens
s. lanceolata
s. Indigo Spires
s. clevelandii
s. coccinea
s. darcyi
s. nubicola
s. flocculosa
s. scabra
s. uliginosa
s. urica
It's good salvia country here!