Which Kind of Salvia for Landscaping?

Edible Salvia

• The most important part of the plant on edible salvia plants are the leaves. Flowers are removed in order to produce more fragrant and tasty leaves. Edible sages are suitable for the landscape because they grow less than 2 feet tall and make thick, full borders around flowerbeds. Common sage is the type added to Thanksgiving stuffing. Leaves are lance-shaped and muted green or variegated in yellow, cream or purple. Common sage is a perennial with purple flowers. Pineapple sage is an edible salvia with leaves that smell just like the fruit. It is a tender perennial, grown as an annual, with scarlet flowers. Both do well in containers and in the ground.

Other Herbal Sages

• White sage is an evergreen salvia with soft woolly leaves and spotted lavender flowers. Native Americans use it in smudge ceremonies to dispel negativity. Clary sage grows the lowest and has rosettes of silver-green, fuzzy leaves. The flowers are desirable and plentiful, blooming in pinks and mauves. Clary sage dies after flowering, but reseeds itself for the next year. All are suitable planted as borders or encircling a large rock or small tree.

Ornamental Salvia as Shrubs

• Several varieties of salvia are tall enough to plant as a shrub, and they grow almost as tall as a tree. Mexican bush sage grows 4 to 5 feet with purple and white flowers on tall stalks. It is grown as an annual in cold climates, and the flower dries well, holding its color. Indigo spires grows 4 feet high and wide, with dark purple flowers on arching stems. All shrub-like varieties work well as an accent plant, or use them at each side of an entrance to emphasize the doorway to a house or entry to a garden. Forsythia sage grows more than 7 feet high, with cascading yellow flowers that appear in late August to the first frost. Leaves are heart-shaped and bright green. It is native to Mexico and Belize, and grows in high altitudes.

Low-growing Ornamental Salvia

• The lower-growing species make borders around gardens and through garden beds, as they grow very dense. Plant them under windows and in containers. They grow 2 feet high, with colorful spikes of flowers. Texas sage is a red-flowered plant that has contrasting dark green leaves. Blooms are very prolific, and the plant readily reseeds and grows the next season. Hummingbirds and bees flock to this plant, so avoid planting it near doors. Painted sage has pink, white, purple or blue flowers and is suitable when grouped together in a mass of color. "Cleveland Blue" salvia has fragrant leaves, and, when brushed against, the scent is released into the garden. "May Night" salvia grows only 18 inches high, with indigo flowers, and works very well as a border plant.