Common Sage (Salvia officinalis)

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Botanical name: Salvia officinalis • Bloom season: Late spring to summer • Bloom color: Blue-violet spikes • Host plant (elsewhere in North America): Sphinx eremitus

Soft gray-green pebbled leaves on a low woody mound, and in late spring, spikes of blue-violet that most cooks never see because they harvest before it flowers. Let it bloom, and it draws heavy bumblebee traffic and hummingbirds.

Photo credit: Ashley @Sage.and.Summit

Botanical name: Salvia officinalis • Bloom season: Late spring to summer • Bloom color: Blue-violet spikes • Host plant (elsewhere in North America): Sphinx eremitus

Soft gray-green pebbled leaves on a low woody mound, and in late spring, spikes of blue-violet that most cooks never see because they harvest before it flowers. Let it bloom, and it draws heavy bumblebee traffic and hummingbirds.

Photo credit: Ashley @Sage.and.Summit

Size:

Plant Characteristics

Botanical Name: Salvia officinalis

Common Name: Common Sage

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Low

Bloom Time: Late spring to summer

Bloom Color: Blue-violet

Pollinators: Bees; Butterflies; Hummingbirds

Deer Resistant: Yes

Mature Size: W 24"-30" x H 18"-24"

Soil: Sharply drained; lean soil

Plant Type: Evergreen subshrub

USDA Zones: 4 to 8

Spread Habit: Clumping

Available As: Live plant

Host Plant (Elsewhere in North America): Sphinx eremitus

Growing Notes

Full sun and sharply drained, lean soil. It thrives in unamended Northern Nevada ground and suffers in rich, wet beds. Space about 2 feet apart, since crowding traps humidity around the foliage. Flavor is stronger on plants grown dry and hard.

  • Water: Low

  • Sun: Full Sun

  • Soil: Sharply drained; lean soil

  • Mature size: W 24"-30" x H 18"-24"

Maintenance

Shear by about a third after flowering. Cut back in early spring to just above the lowest leaves, never into bare wood, which does not resprout reliably. It gets woody and sparse after four or five years and is better replaced than renovated at that point. No fertilizer.