Sage (Ramona)
Salvia species, hybrids, and cultivars. LAMIACEAE (LABIATAE).
Planting and Growing Sage
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow sage in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of sage
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for sage
- Season of bloom and planting time for sage
- When, how deep, and where to plant sage
- How to plant sage
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of sage
- Landscape and container uses of sage
- Comments about sage and its features
Growing Sage
Over 900 species and many cultivars of annual, biennial, or perennial herbs and shrubs, with widely varied habits and usually fragrant, edible foliage.
Cultivated perennial species include:
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- Autumn sage; Salvia greggii
- Blue sage, Salvia azurea or Salvia clevelandii;
- Garden sage, Salvia officinalis
- Hummingbird sage; Salvia spathacea
- Mealy-cup sage, Salvia farinacea
- Mountain sage, Salvia regla
- Scarlet sage, Salvia splendens or Salvia coccinea
- Silver sage, Salvia argentea
- Spanish sage, Salvia lavandulafolia
- White sage, Salvia apiana
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Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Varied showy to inconspicuous, blue, orange, pink, purple, red, white, yellow, 2-lipped, hooded flowers, in spring–autumn, depending on species.
Best Climates
Hardy. Zones 4–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Damp, well-drained soil. Fertility: Average–low. 6.0–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in full sun, 10–24 in. (25–60 cm) apart, depending on species, when soil is workable.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist until established; drought tolerant thereafter. Fertilize annually in spring. Mulch, zones 4–6. Pinch to control, promote dense growth. Propagate by cuttings, division, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for borders, edgings, mixed plantings in cottage, formal, herb, small-space, wildlife gardens. Attracts bees, birds, butterflies, hummingbirds. Disease resistant. Scale, whitefly and leaf spot, rust susceptible.
Species and Hybrids of Sage:
Popularly Cultivated Sage Plants:
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- Anise-scented sage, Salvia guaranitica
- Autumn sage, Salvia greggii
- Beach sage, Salvia africana-lutea
- Blue sage, Salvia azurea
- Canary Island sage, Salvia canariensis
- Clary sage, Salvia sclarea
- Desert sage, Salvia dorrii
- Dolomite sage, Salvia dolomitica
- Fruit-scented sage, Salvia dorisiana
- Garden sage, Salvia officinalisv
- Gentian salvia, Salvia patensv
- Germander sage, Salvia chamaedryoidesv
- Hybrid sage, Salvia X superba
- Joseph sage, Salvia viridis
- Lyre-leaved sage, Salvia lyrata
- Meadow sage, Salvia pratensis
- Mealycup sage, Salvia farinacea
- Mexican bush sage, Salvia leucantha
- Pineapple sage, Salvia elegans
- Rose-leaved sage, Salvia involucrata
- Scarlet sage, Salvia splendens
- Silver sage, Salvia argentea
About Sage
More than 900 species of highly varied, herbaceous perennials—all closely related to mint—make up the Salvia genus.
Sage are square-stemmed plants, with opposite, textured, mostly oval or lance-shaped, finely toothed leaves and showy, tubular, two-lipped flowers in dense or sparse, spiking clusters that stand above the foliage.
Most are found in rocky, dry habitats. The genus is distributed throughout the world.
Sage range from low-growing, nearly prostrate plants, 3–4 in. (75–100 mm) tall, to shrubs as tall as 8 ft. (2.4 m).
Their bright flowers are blue, orange, pink, purple, red, white, and yellow, 1/4–2-in. (6–50-mm) long, sometimes whorled with contrasting colors along the edges. Sage blooms continuously from spring to autumn.
Sage is more than a cooking herb—it’s also a delightful, fragrant, colorful landscape perennial ideally suited to a sunny site. Sage are bright and colorful. They are the right choice to give long-lasting color throughout the entire garden season.
Choose sage for banks, planters atop fences and walls, borders, and formal beds, where their bright, contrasting colors can be used to create fanciful or formal geometric designs.
Sage also is a good choice for overplanting spring bulbs after their blooms fade or for an edging foreground in a shrub border.
Choose sage for your landscape or indoor locations from the popularly cultivated species listed.
Planting and Caring for Sage
Plant sage in spring in full sun sites with at least 6 hours of sun exposure daily.
When planting, sage grows best in damp, well-drained soil with average acid-alkaline balance. Plant sage in spring in full sun sites with at least 6 hours of sun exposure daily.
Keep soils moist during active growth, allowing the surface to dry before repeating waterings.
Sage plantings need little added fertilizer in most soils.
Keep plants dense and compact by regularly pinching new leaves and deadheading spent flowers.
Pinch or prune spent flowers to encourage new flower buds to form, and renew the plantings by shearing or replanting when blooms have faded; many popular species are annuals.
While sage are susceptible to scale and whiteflies as well as leaf spot and rust, frequent inspection and treatment will give good results in most gardens.
Propagate perennial plants by taking stem cuttings or dividing their roots.
Because sage self-seeds freely, new plants also can be transplanted when volunteers reach about 4 in. (10 cm) in height.