How to Grow Salvia

Looking for a pest resistant native plant that requires little fertilizer, is drought tolerant, blooms all summer, and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds? The member of the mint family known as Salvia fills all those requirements. (You can tell a plant is related to mints because the stem is square and they have opposite pairs of leaves.) Commonly known as sages, they are found in all shapes and sizes. They might be shrubs, herbaceous perennials, or annuals. Some species are grown as herbs for medicinal or culinary purposes and others as ornamental plants.

Sages or Salvias, of which there are at least 900 species, grow in warm climates. They are native to China, Mexico, Africa, and The United States. They provide color from spring to frost and there is a salvia for every part of the garden. For best performance, place the broader leaf varieties, such as the Salvia Coccinea or red sage, where they have some protection from the hottest afternoon sun. Be sure to plant in well-drained soil. Too much water will kill them. If you want to plant the best sage for cooking, I've found the Biergarten variety makes it through winter better than the common garden sage. Perennial salvia will need to be trimmed back in the spring for shape. If they begin to look bloomed out in August, cut back by one half and they will be blooming again in less than a month. All blooming varieties will attract masses of butterflies, especially in the fall. Here are a few of my favorite sages:

Red Sage (Salvia coccinia) is an annual that reseeds freely. It blooms white or red. Needs some afternoon shade. Attracts butterflies more than any other variety and that's a lot of butterflies.

Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea) is a native perennial that blooms blue flower spikes all summer. It actually prefers dry sandy soil. Particularly beautiful in the fall when the cooler days make the blue flowers darker blue.

Indigo Spires Sage (Salvia longespicata) has deep blue blossoms from April to October. Grows four feet high and can sprawl six feet or more. Stunning in the garden and as a cut flower, indigo Spires will die to the ground in the winter.

Forsythia Sage (Salvia madrensis) grows rapidly to eight feet and blooms as the days become shorter in the fall. Prefers some shade. It is broad leaved and the flowers are vertical clean yellow spikes as much as a foot long. Beautiful in the fall garden, you will need to water it regularly during the summer for the best show. It spreads by rhizomes underground. Needs protection from strong winds.

Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii) is a popular plant known as a sub-shrub. It is semi-evergreen in our part of Texas, it can be cut back as much as two-thirds in the winter to keep a compact shape. It is also a butterfly magnet and can be found with blooms of pink, purple, red, blue and all shades in between. Grows three feet high by three feet wide. Autumn sage is a tough reliable plant that should be in every flower garden.

Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) blooms purple flower spikes in the fall. However, you'll be impressed with the fuzzy silvery green foliage all summer. Grows thickly and fills a bed or border quickly. Can get as high as five feet in the right conditions, but 3 feet is about normal.

Texas Sage or Purple Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) has small silvery green leaves and purple flowers. It can get as high as eight feet but compact varieties are available. It is a desert plant that requires little water and performs well in our area. It is not a true sage, however. Visit www.biglump.com for more information.