Emerisa Gardens: Our reputation is growing

emerisa's newest addition:
Salvia greggii 'Teresa'
emerisa gardens and Native Sons are the exclusive California distributors for this new introduction.

emerisa’s territory extends from the Fresno-Santa Cruz line north to the Oregon border. Native Sons is responsible for the area from the Fresno-Santa Cruz line south to the Mexico border. If you are a retail nursery within California please contact the appropriate distributor.

emerisa gardens:
phone: (707) 525-9600
email: mail@emerisa.com

Native Sons:
phone: (805) 481-5996
email: native.son@nativeson.com

It should be available for sale in mid to late March 2005, please call to reserve yours today.

Mail order: $5.25 each, minimum purchase of 4 plants + shipping & handling.
Retail: $5.49 each
Wholesale: please call to inquire

The following article appeared in the San Antonio Express-News on April 17, 2004.

Bizarre blossom blooms
From a single shoot, striped salvia makes its way to the marketplace.

While other members of the clan - known largely for its matriarch, autumn or cherry sage - might sport bright colors, 'Teresa' shows a sassy splash of pink on her white bloom. But don't mistake her for a fragile beauty. This variety, discovered by Hunt landscape designer and nurseryman David Steinbrunner, is proving to be as tough as the rest of the family.

Steinbrunner calls the pink and white flower a "total freak." The first striped blossom showed in March 2001 on a branch of standard autumn sage. With the entire plant blooming red, a single lateral branch produced pink and white flowers.

From that branch, Steinbrunner made a dozen cuttings, and eight took root. Each had the same striped flower.

With the help of Schumacher's Hill Country Gardens in New Braunfels, 'Teresa' has multiplied, cutting by cutting, to about 8,000 plants. The striped salvia, now patented, will be available in a nursery for the first time May 1 at Schumacher's.

Steinbrunner, who operates Guadalupe River Gardens and Steinbrunner Landscaping in Hunt, says 'Teresa' was a lucky discovery.

"I wish I could say this is some big scientific thing I've been working on for years, but it was just a chance," he says. "The only responsibility I have is taking the opportunity to take the cuttings. That's all I can claim."

Named for his wife, 'Teresa' has proven as tough as its Salvia greggii kin. One of the plants from the first round of cuttings made it to his mother-in-law's garden in Eastland County, in Zone 7 about 45 miles east of Abilene. Despite the extreme conditions there, Steinbrunner says, "it's done fantastic up there."

Salvia greggii, an evergreen perennial, grows in full sun to partial shade and blooms spring through fall. It needs little supplemental water, and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds. Deer don't have a taste for the plants. Steinbrunner recommends shearing the plants in late winter or early spring.

Before this month, 'Teresa' was a closely held secret. Until Steinbrunner and his Schumacher's partners, Chip Schumacher and Paul Dailey, secured a patent on 'Teresa,' they snipped all the blooms off the "babies" so no one else would be charmed by the unique flower. With their stock increased, they began selling 4-inch plants on the Internet at www.teresasalvia.com.

Now, Steinbrunner is pursuing an agreement with a California grower to produce plants for that state. He's also keeping his eye out for some special 'Teresa' descendants. "I have, in a very secure place, seven seedlings that came up from this plant so we'll find out if the genetics carry over." With red and pink salvias growing around it, Steinbrunner is hoping for some cross-pollination to expand the Salvia greggii family further. Then he can honor two more important women in his family - his mother and daughter - with plants named for them.

Caption: 'Teresa,' a new salvia, will be available May 1.PHOTO: COURTESY CHIP SCHUMACHER

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