For the Fourth of July in my garden, red will come from roses, but the white and blue will be from two of
my favorite salvias, “Henry Duelberg” (blue) and “Augusta Duelberg” (white). Both are varieties of Salvia farinacea.
They came to my yard from a nursery, but they arrived at nurseries through a plant treasure hunter worthy of Indiana Jones’ hat, Dr. Greg Grant, horticulture extension agent for Smith County. He has a habit of finding forgotten or unknown varieties of plants that become stars of Texas gardens. He found the Duelberg salvias while searching for populations of another native salvia.
Dr. Grant likes to search in places where plants aren’t well tended to find varieties that will grow even in neglected gardens. The Duelberg salvias were found in an old, rural Central Texas cemetery that lacks an irrigation system. He found them on a hot, dry summer day when they didn’t look great but were living despite the lack of care.
He searched for an identification of the unknown salvias, but they were unlike others, so he named them
after the graves they adorned and introduced them to nurseries.
Dr. Grant’s theory is that perhaps one of the Duelbergs was a dabbler in salvia breeding and that after their deaths (Augusta died in 1903 and Henry in 1935) someone put the parent plants at the heads of the graves where they reseeded and thrived ever since.
They certainly thrive in my garden where I only water them every 3 to 4 weeks in the summer. They like my black clay soil (amended on planting with a little compost). Pollinators like them in turn. I find that the blue “Henry Duelberg” salvia grows around 3 feet tall and, due to my windy yard, tends to sprawl over. I solved this with a tomato cage that I leave over the plant. It grows with rock rose, which makes a pretty pink contrast to the blue.
My “Augusta Duelberg” is just an inch or so shorter but doesn’t fall over so easily. It is in a bed with milkweed and a white rose.
“Henry Duelberg” salvia is a Texas Superstar selection.
by Marj McClung, ECMG