New Salvia Garden at Merritt

The Landscape Horticulture teacher, Lawrence Lee, was looking for a project for his students and did he find one! Two weeks ago he and his over 50 students planted out the salvia mother plant collection. The salvia garden is located along the path on the uphill side as you leave the tool room and head for the nursery. They are in a all-day sunny location. Anders arranged for irrigation lines right away so they are doing well already.

They were arranged in two groups, one for natives and one for non-natives. The native group looked sort of forlorn so other sun-loving natives were planted with them. California just does not have that many salvias. The students dug the holes (Anders and Lawrence did a demonstration of how to make a proper hole on a slope), learned about checking for excess roots on the plants and trimming them, and then planted them. Mulch, labeling and water finished the process.

The propagation club is grateful as we will now have a close by source for new plant material. At the upcoming sale, we can also take people over to the garden and show off how the plants look when they are finally out of their pots.