The New Book of Salvias
Sages for Every Garden

a book by Betsy Clebsch

Drawings by Carol D. Barner

Following the great success of Betsy Clebsch’s first book on salvias comes this expanded edition, The New Book of Salvias: Sages for Every Garden. Betsy has added more than 50 new species and cultivars such as Salvia castanea and Salvia recurva, bringing the total to approximately 150 beautiful, gardenworthy species and significant hybrids. She documents them alphabetically and includes botanical descriptions, information on habit, blooming cycle, recommended companion plants, and delightful historical tidbits of discovery and usage. Nearly 100 new photos and illustrations make this new edition even more attractive than its predecessor.

Winner of Garden Writers Association Garden Globe Award

Media reviews of this book:

“The book is well written and includes valuable cultural information, botanical drawings and color photographs.”

—Jeneen Wiche, January 31, 2005

“As soon as the first edition was released, it became the classic salvia reference book. The new edition is even better, with more photographs, beautiful illustrations, and the inclusion of 50 more plants.”

—Amy Stewart, North Coast Journal, April 17, 2003

“Her ideas on plant companions and instructions on propagation should prove very valuable to salvia lovers.”

—Nancy Brachey, The Charlotte Observer, June 28, 2003

“The book offers anything and everything one might need to know about salvia.”

—Marlene Feduris, Amarillo Globe-News, August 26, 2004

“An expanded edition of Betsy’s first wonderful book on salvias, describing more than 50 new species and cultivars and how to use them in your garden.”

—University of California Botanical Garden Newsletter, Spring 2004

Hardcover, 344 pages, 6" x 9", 149 color photos, 9 color drawings, 74 line drawings

An excerpt from this book:

Described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus, Salvia officinalis has long been known and grown. Old herbal books tell of the miraculous properties attributed to it:
He who would live for aye
Must eat sage in May.

Called sage or garden sage in early times, the specific epithet, officinalis, refers to the plant being sold in shops for its medicinal virtues. Found in the wild on the northern slopes of the Mediterranean, including Asia Minor, it is renowned for its culinary and medicinal properties.

About Betsy Clebsch

Betsy Clebsch is a noted amateur botanist and horticulturist in Northern California, having made and tended five gardens in Virginia, Texas, and California. Clebsch has participated in a number of plant explorations and regularly exchanges seed and rare plants, particularly salvias, with many botanical gardens.