What’s Coming Up In The Garden, 29: blue sage

These are new this year and I’m curious to see how they look when they bloom. I’m finding all kinds of things coming up that aren’t familiar and I think it’s because I kept getting plants last fall and tucking them in without much fanfare at all. Here’s to surprise in the garden!

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Species Native to Missouri

Common Name: blue sage 

Type: Herbaceous perennial

Family: Lamiaceae

Native Range: Southeastern United States

Zone: 5 to 9

Height: 3.00 to 5.00 feet

Spread: 2.00 to 4.00 feet

Bloom Time: July to October

Bloom Description: Azure blue

Sun: Full sun

Water: Dry to medium

Maintenance: Low

Flower: Showy

Attracts: Butterflies

Tolerate: Deer, Drought, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil

Garden locations

Culture

Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates drought. Prefers moist, gravelly or sandy soils with good drainage. Plant stems may be cut back by up to 1/2 in late spring to promote compactness and prevent stem flopping. Plants may repeat bloom from summer to fall, but need regular moisture to encourage this. Remove spent flower spikes to help extend the bloom period. If plant foliage depreciates in hot summer conditions to the point where it looks unsightly, consider trimming back. In any event, cut plants back after flowering has concluded.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Salvia azurea, commonly called blue sage, is a clump-forming perennial that typically grows to 3-5’ tall (shorter if pruned). Whorls of 2-lipped, azure blue flowers bloom in spikes from mid-summer to fall atop stiff stems clad with linear to lanceolate to obovate, grayish-green leaves (to 3-4” long). Salvia azurea var. azurea is native from North Carolina and Tennessee south to Florida and Texas. Salvia azurea var. grandiflora grows further west to New Mexico and further north to Nebraska and Minnesota. Although similar in appearance, var. grandiflora has larger flowers and is often considered to be a better garden plant than var. azurea.

The genus name Salvia comes from the Latin word salveo meaning "to save or heal", in reference to the purported medically curative properties attributed to some plants in the genus.

Specific epithet means sky-blue for the azure blue flowers.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems.