I've been growing this one for the third time. The first two failed from lack of a proper pampering when newly planted. Not enough water. But I had to get it right for John's next visit! It was so very nice of him to mention this garden in his last book 'Plant Lovers Guide to Salvia's' with photos from here also. This last attempt has had a better start in life here at Hamilton Square Garden. I've been away for three weeks so the new growth was noticeable and good with fairly prolific flowers. I broke a branch off while weeding and took it over to one of it's parent plants for a photo comparison. The parent, Salvia D'Arcyi we also grow and it's rampant rambling riot of growth is not present in the, so far, tidy growth of S. 'John Whitelsey'. Thank you Mike Thiede for this well behaved prolific bloomer. On the left is
S 'John Whittlesey' on the right is S D'Arcyi. The flowers of this child plant have the lower lip shape like S gregii but with the size of S. D'Arcyi's flower which is significantly bigger than the S. greggii's. Big greggii shaped lip and a more compact growth habit are the two big pluses I see here. I think it also has a more colorful bract. I'll take a full shot of the plant and better flower photos to add to the DataBase.
