PermaSolarPotter
I’ve got a bucket full of tropical salvia. I’m transplanting about a dozen volunteers. We first bought this plant from the #Florida Nursery of #NativePlants and it reseeds itself faithfully year after year. The tiny flowers come in white, pink and red and they attract the American bumble bee, countless butterflies and other pollinators. I’m moving them around to places where we just need more greenery and color and I feel so lucky to have oodles of this plant for free.
Mar 14 at 10:19pmWeb
Show threadPermaSolarPotter4d ago
All three colors of tropical sage, in front of my studio. One thing I find curious about this so-called #NativePlant is that I don’t recall seeing it in the natural landscape. I only ever see it in cultivated gardens. It’s possible I haven’t been to its natural habitat, but I’ve been to so many places in this state that I think it’s strange I haven’t run into it yet.
Show threadChan Chan3d ago
@PermaSolarPotter That’s a good observation.
Show threadsoaproot3d ago
@PermaSolarPotter The map at https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/128652-Salvia-coccinea#map-tab shows it present in some parts of Florida and not others. (There are some disclaimers, such as this data being skewed towards where people who make iNaturalist observations go).
Show threadsoaproot3d ago
@PermaSolarPotter As for the general observation, of native plants that I only see in the garden and not in the wild, I'm sure there are some which are still in that category for me, but mostly I eventually find them in the wild if I keep going to wild areas, know how to recognize them, etc. They might be rare in the wild and common in gardens.
Show threadPermaSolarPotter2d ago
@soaproot we went on a nature walk two hours south of us this weekend. Tropical salvia was in the garden boxes around the bathroom facilities but nowhere else 😂 I’ll keep looking, I guess.
Show threadPermaSolarPotter2d ago
@soaproot Thanks for the link. It's hard to know from these photos if they were taken of cultivated or wild plants. I saw some photos where the soil beneath is covered with a nice bed of straw or the plant is in a pot. The photos closest to my house were literally taken at our city's botanical garden. People are so funny... Some of the photos do look like "wild" landscapes, though. Like I said, I'll continue to be on the lookout.
Show threadsoaproot2d ago
@PermaSolarPotter If it is in a pot, I'd definitely downvote the "organism is wild" item at the bottom of the observation page (I guess one needs to make an account to do that but it is a crowd sourced data set). Probably the same for the straw. And definitely the same if you can tell from the location that it is part of a garden's collection. Others will be harder to make that kind of call on, so that will always be a bit of a caveat with this site.
Show threadKate BowlesMar 14
@PermaSolarPotter Salvias are the most life-loving plants. They keep themselves going through all kinds of neglect. They provide for bees, nectar seeking birds and other friends. They love a hard prune. They strike from cuttings, put out rooted starters, offer seed, but aren’t rhizomatically invasive. Their leaves are fragrant as you work around them. Can’t have too many, can’t sing their praises loud enough.
Show threadPermaSolarPotterMar 14
@kate 100% and Amen!