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Salvia greggii
Also called San Antone Oregano
Autumn sage is a small, variable perennial shrub from Texas and northeast Mexico, widely grown for its long-blooming red, pink and other colored flowers. It thrives in sun, lean well-drained soil and dry conditions, and is best kept from overwatering.
Salvia greggii, the autumn sage, is a herbaceous perennial plant native to a long, narrow area from southwest Texas, through the Chihuahuan Desert and into the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, typically growing in rocky soils at elevations from 5,000 to 9,000 ft (1,500 to 2,700 m). It was named and described in 1870 by botanist Asa Gray after Josiah Gregg (1806–1850), a merchant, explorer, naturalist, and author from the American Southwest and Northern Mexico, who found and collected the plant in Texas. It is closely related to, and frequently hybridizes with, Salvia microphylla. Despite the common name "autumn sage", it blooms throughout the summer and autumn.
The plant is used widely in horticulture. Popular named cultivars include 'Furman's Red', a cultivar from Texas that blooms profusely in autumn with dark red flowers. 'Big Pink' has a large lower lip with a deep pink color and lavender tint. 'Purple Pastel' is a small variety that repeat blooms in autumn. 'Cherry Chief 'blooms reliably in the humid southern United States. 'Desert Pastel' has pale apricot flowers with yellow streaks, and prefers mild climates. Other cultivars include: 'Alba', a white flowered variety; 'Peach', with vivid red flowers; 'Strawberries and Cream', yellow and pink.
Natural hybrids between S. greggii and S. microphylla were discovered in Mexico in 1991 by an English plant expedition. The variously colored hybrids are collectively named Salvia × jamensis after the nearest village, Jame. The collectors gathered seed from nearly 30 different colors of flowers. It was later discovered that plants collected in 1991 by collectors from Yucca Do Nursery in Texas were also forms of Salvia × jamensis. The various forms most resemble S.
Egyptian Sage · Mediterranean sage · White sage · Brown Sage · Santa Rosa Island sage · Buchanan's Sage · Guatemalan Leaf Sage · Candelabra Sage · Cayman sage · Fragrant sage · Blood sage · Chia
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salvia greggii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
