That handsome tornado’s name is Dash, and he is 1.5 year old Australian shepherd who has taken a great delight in mowing over plants in my backyard. Several bulbs and tender shrubs have met their demise under the paws of this stampeding ball of fur. The most recent deaths included a healthy thriving purple salvia as well as my most mature white salvia. No fence can keep him out, and I’m at my wits end trying to find some way to deter him from entering the beds. I purchased 6 planter rings from Home Depot this weekend and hopefully I can protect the remaining fragile salvias, including the 2 salvia chamaedryoides that were cut low by this Texas twister.

Meanwhile, I’m way behind on purchasing my white daffodils for the 2008 show. I’m looking more into salvias to fill the bare spots in the garden. A few that have caught my eye: Salvia greggii or jamensis ‘California Sunset’ (orange) , Salvia greggii or jamensis (?) ‘Sierra San Antonio’ (coppery peach), Salvia greggii ‘La Encantada Peach’, Salvia jamensis Moonlight (yellow) , Salvia greggii ‘Yellow Cloud’, and any more orange, yellow and peach variants I can dig up.