Photo by Tom Curtis/Fotolia
All about salvias
Discover the sensory delights these easy-to-grow salvias have to offer. Botanical editor Karen York rounds up nine top charmers—and some cool companions
I have to say I’ve rarely met a salvia (or sage) I didn’t like. The name *Salvia* comes from the Latin *salvere*, meaning “to save,” referring to the plant’s curative properties. For my money, though, it means there’s a salvia to solve pretty much any problem spot in a sunny garden. There are 900 species and countless cultivars, including brilliant annuals, stalwart perennials and, of course, the stuff of stuffing, culinary sages.
Look beyond the fire-engine-red annual salvias (*Salvia splendens*) to the elegant spires of perennial *S. verticillata* or *S. nemorosa*, laden with small two-lipped flowers in purple, blue, pink or white. Or the gorgeous silver sage with its huge felted foliage, or pineapple sage with its scented leaves.
Snazzy new perennial cultivars to watch for include *Salvia* ‘Pink Delight’, a lavender-pink meadow sage from Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf and *S.* ‘Sensation Rose’, a diminutive pink form just 10 inches tall. Coming down the horticultural pipeline from Australia is a stunning series of long-blooming salvias called Heatwave in hot pinks and sizzling scarlets.
Easy to love and just as easy to grow, salvias like sun and moderately rich soil that’s moist but well-draining. With their saturated colours, textured leaves and shapely form, they mingle sociably in mixed borders and herb gardens, attracting bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and the discerning gardener’s endless appreciation.
##ADMIRABLE ANNUALS##
Blue Anise or Sapphire Sage
(Salvia guaranitica) A tall sub-shrub from South America, this sage sports showy blue flowers that are almost two inches long in early to midsummer. Striking cultivars include ‘Black and Blue’, which has deep periwinkle blooms and dark purple calyces (the part enclosing the base of the petals) and ‘Argentina Skies’ with powder blue flowers and green calyces. Height: three to five feet. **Garden mates**: Draw a wildlife crowd—plant this with butterfly bushes (*Buddleja*), lantana, purple coneflowers (*Echinacea purpurea*) and black-eyed Susans (*Rudbeckia fulgida*). Pineapple Sage
(S. rutilans, S. elegans) Put this in a container and pick the leaves for use in teas and fruit salads, as well as chicken and pork dishes. The nectar-filled blooms resembling little ruby slippers make edible garnishes for sweets and drinks. Check out the yummy cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’ that has fresh yellow new foliage. Height: three to four feet. **Garden mates**: It can go solo in a container or mingle with other fragrant herbs such as thyme and rosemary. Mealycup sage
(S. farinacea) This one gets its name from the white pubescence that dusts its stems, buds and leaf ribs—the Latin word *farina* means “flour.” An award-winning new cultivar is ‘Evolution’ with violet flowers, but don’t overlook good old purple-blue ‘Victoria’ or ‘Strata’ with its two-tone blooms. Height: one to two feet. **Garden mates**: Mix this in with roses, tickseeds (*Coreopsis*), poppies (*Papaver*), yarrow (*Achillea*), Scabiosa and phlox. ##PICTURE PERFECT PERENNIALS## S. verticillata
‘Purple Rain’ A true prince of a plant, *S. verticillata* is sometimes called whorled sage because its smoky purple flowers appear in little pompoms spaced up the stem rather than an even climb of florets like most other perennial salvias. This bushy selection by Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf also has stout stems and large, fuzzy, silvery-green leaves. Height: two feet. **Zone 5**. **Garden mates**: Plant it with statuesque Joe-Pye weed (*Eupatorium spp.*), bronze fennel and purple coneflowers (*Echinacea purpurea*) with a pungent hit of deep red astilbe (*Astilbe* ‘Fanal’). Azure sage
(S. azurea var. grandiflora) John Valleau of Heritage Perennials in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., calls this “a gem of a plant that deserves far more use.” Native to the southeastern United States, azure sage puts out airy, four-foot-tall stems with intense sky-blue flowers in autumn. It’s tolerant of heat, humidity and drought, so what’s not to love? Height: four feet. **Zone 6**. **Garden mates**: Mix this with rich, fall-coloured plants such as purple smoke bush (*Cotinus coggygria*), little bluestem (*Schizachyrium scoparium*) and Arkansas blue star (*Amsonia hubrechtii*). S. nemorosa
‘Plumosa’ Definitely different, ‘Plumosa’ has deep mulberry purple plumes with a thick, almost chenille-like texture. Held on sturdy, compact stems adorned with narrow, aromatic leaves, they are excellent in borders or as cut flowers (holding their colour and form either fresh or dried). Height: 18 inches. **Zone 4**. **Garden mates**: Combine with pastel yarrows such as *Achillea* ‘Anthea’ and peachy *Verbascum* ‘Helen Johnson’. ##FANTASTIC FOLIAGE## Lyre-leaf sage
(S. lyrata ‘Purple Volcano’) Grown for its bronze-purple foliage, this little perennial sage makes a fine edging or rock garden plant. It particularly loves gravel paths where it will happily seed itself. Height: 10 inches. **Zone 5**. **Garden mates**: Combine with golden feverfew (*Tanacetum parthenium* ‘Aureum’), yellow *Sedum rupestre* ‘Angelina’ or lacy silver dusty miller (*Senecio cineraria* ‘Silverdust’). Silver Sage
(S. argentea) With its rosette of huge woolly leaves, this biennial or short-lived perennial usually flowers in its second year, producing a large candelabra of white blooms. Slugs also love it, so ring the plant with copper bands or tubing. Height: eight inches (foliage); 30 inches (flower stems). **Zone 6**. **Garden mates**: For a study in silver, plant with Russian sage (*Perovskia atriplicifolia*), artemisia and sea holly (*Eryngium*). Common sage
(S. officinalis) Culinary sages with their pebbly-textured leaves suit borders, herb gardens and pots. Try ‘Tricolor’, boasting leaves splashed with pink, green and cream; ‘Purpurascens’ that has purple-flushed leaves; and ‘Icterina’ with green-and-yellow foliage. Height: two feet. **Zone 7**. **Garden mates**: Create a sage tapestry by planting all these together en masse. **GROW WISE** * Diligent deadheading will prolong salvias’ bloom time. * If tall varieties become floppy in midsummer, clip them back hard; they will quickly put out a mound of fresh new foliage. * Divide perennial salvias in spring. * If rabbits and deer frequent your garden, look for salvias with aromatic foliage—it won’t be munched.
(continued below)
(Salvia guaranitica) A tall sub-shrub from South America, this sage sports showy blue flowers that are almost two inches long in early to midsummer. Striking cultivars include ‘Black and Blue’, which has deep periwinkle blooms and dark purple calyces (the part enclosing the base of the petals) and ‘Argentina Skies’ with powder blue flowers and green calyces. Height: three to five feet. **Garden mates**: Draw a wildlife crowd—plant this with butterfly bushes (*Buddleja*), lantana, purple coneflowers (*Echinacea purpurea*) and black-eyed Susans (*Rudbeckia fulgida*). Pineapple Sage
(S. rutilans, S. elegans) Put this in a container and pick the leaves for use in teas and fruit salads, as well as chicken and pork dishes. The nectar-filled blooms resembling little ruby slippers make edible garnishes for sweets and drinks. Check out the yummy cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’ that has fresh yellow new foliage. Height: three to four feet. **Garden mates**: It can go solo in a container or mingle with other fragrant herbs such as thyme and rosemary. Mealycup sage
(S. farinacea) This one gets its name from the white pubescence that dusts its stems, buds and leaf ribs—the Latin word *farina* means “flour.” An award-winning new cultivar is ‘Evolution’ with violet flowers, but don’t overlook good old purple-blue ‘Victoria’ or ‘Strata’ with its two-tone blooms. Height: one to two feet. **Garden mates**: Mix this in with roses, tickseeds (*Coreopsis*), poppies (*Papaver*), yarrow (*Achillea*), Scabiosa and phlox. ##PICTURE PERFECT PERENNIALS## S. verticillata
‘Purple Rain’ A true prince of a plant, *S. verticillata* is sometimes called whorled sage because its smoky purple flowers appear in little pompoms spaced up the stem rather than an even climb of florets like most other perennial salvias. This bushy selection by Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf also has stout stems and large, fuzzy, silvery-green leaves. Height: two feet. **Zone 5**. **Garden mates**: Plant it with statuesque Joe-Pye weed (*Eupatorium spp.*), bronze fennel and purple coneflowers (*Echinacea purpurea*) with a pungent hit of deep red astilbe (*Astilbe* ‘Fanal’). Azure sage
(S. azurea var. grandiflora) John Valleau of Heritage Perennials in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., calls this “a gem of a plant that deserves far more use.” Native to the southeastern United States, azure sage puts out airy, four-foot-tall stems with intense sky-blue flowers in autumn. It’s tolerant of heat, humidity and drought, so what’s not to love? Height: four feet. **Zone 6**. **Garden mates**: Mix this with rich, fall-coloured plants such as purple smoke bush (*Cotinus coggygria*), little bluestem (*Schizachyrium scoparium*) and Arkansas blue star (*Amsonia hubrechtii*). S. nemorosa
‘Plumosa’ Definitely different, ‘Plumosa’ has deep mulberry purple plumes with a thick, almost chenille-like texture. Held on sturdy, compact stems adorned with narrow, aromatic leaves, they are excellent in borders or as cut flowers (holding their colour and form either fresh or dried). Height: 18 inches. **Zone 4**. **Garden mates**: Combine with pastel yarrows such as *Achillea* ‘Anthea’ and peachy *Verbascum* ‘Helen Johnson’. ##FANTASTIC FOLIAGE## Lyre-leaf sage
(S. lyrata ‘Purple Volcano’) Grown for its bronze-purple foliage, this little perennial sage makes a fine edging or rock garden plant. It particularly loves gravel paths where it will happily seed itself. Height: 10 inches. **Zone 5**. **Garden mates**: Combine with golden feverfew (*Tanacetum parthenium* ‘Aureum’), yellow *Sedum rupestre* ‘Angelina’ or lacy silver dusty miller (*Senecio cineraria* ‘Silverdust’). Silver Sage
(S. argentea) With its rosette of huge woolly leaves, this biennial or short-lived perennial usually flowers in its second year, producing a large candelabra of white blooms. Slugs also love it, so ring the plant with copper bands or tubing. Height: eight inches (foliage); 30 inches (flower stems). **Zone 6**. **Garden mates**: For a study in silver, plant with Russian sage (*Perovskia atriplicifolia*), artemisia and sea holly (*Eryngium*). Common sage
(S. officinalis) Culinary sages with their pebbly-textured leaves suit borders, herb gardens and pots. Try ‘Tricolor’, boasting leaves splashed with pink, green and cream; ‘Purpurascens’ that has purple-flushed leaves; and ‘Icterina’ with green-and-yellow foliage. Height: two feet. **Zone 7**. **Garden mates**: Create a sage tapestry by planting all these together en masse. **GROW WISE** * Diligent deadheading will prolong salvias’ bloom time. * If tall varieties become floppy in midsummer, clip them back hard; they will quickly put out a mound of fresh new foliage. * Divide perennial salvias in spring. * If rabbits and deer frequent your garden, look for salvias with aromatic foliage—it won’t be munched.
Be the first to comment on "All about salvias"
Editor's note: This is a moderated forum, so your comments won't appear until approved by the moderator. Please help us foster a friendly environment by keeping your posts civil and on-point. We reserve the right to delete comments that include foul language, personal attacks on others, sales solicitations or any other inappropriate content. Posted comments reflect the opinions of the poster, not of gardeninglife.ca. Read our privacy policy for more information.