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A Salvia in Every Color

Among my many plant addictions, the genus Salvia ranks high. I guess you could say I'm a salviaphile! Salvia (or sage) is hugely diverse, with all sizes and flower shapes. And it is one of the few genera that come in the full spectrum of color. In this brief outline, I'll mention my favorite blue, green, yellow, red, orange, pink, and white Salvias.

The color blue is elusive among flowers. Often nurseries will call a flower blue when it is actually closer to a deep purple. Yet plants like, Hydrangea, Delphinium, morning glory, iris, borage, and many others do offer the real deal. Among salvias, there are many purples and a few authentic blues. The most intense blues prefer drier Mediterannean summers, such as in Oregon and California. I'm thinking specifically of Salvia patens, or gentian sage, which is as blue as it gets. But for us in the deep south, I'd suggest the native Salvia azurea, which is easy to grow in dry, sunny spots. And as with almost all salvias, this one is avoided by deer!


For the color green, I'm cheating a bit... Salvia Mexicana 'Limelight' has light has blue-purple flowers, but its most prominent feature is its lime-green calyces. These are the whorl of sepals that surround the actual flower. While this species isn't reliably hardy for us in zone 8a, it can be easily rooted and stored inside or on a protected porch during our winter extremes.

Yellows are also rare. But I love yellow, so if it exists, I have to have it! For my favorite yellow sage, I'll pick the beautiful Forsythia sage. I remember seeing a fantastic specimen once in Athens, Ga. It was growing behind a chainlink fence in the Normaltown neighborhood. I remember it was October, and it was a vast sprawling shrub covered in long spires of yellow flowers. This was the first time I'd seen this species outside of a botanical garden, and it was an unforgettable experience. This Salvia is perennial here, though it does seem to prefer highly well-drained soils and a modest covering of loose pine straw or leaves in winter. This plant is rare in the trade but can be purchased at Petals from the Past and Flowers by the Sea.

I'm combining red and orange in the following selection because there are cultivars that come in both colors. Mountain sage or Salvia regla is probably my favorite on this list. I love it so much because it is so resilient and for lack of a better word, "regal". It seems to never require supplemental watering and can grow well in both full sun and light shade. My photo of this plant was taken last week at my mom's house in Hillsboro, Ga. As with many of these salvias, their time to shine is fall, so just be aware that for most of the year, this is a green leafy mounding perennial. Flowers by the Sea and Plant Delights Nursery seem to be the only source for this plant. If you know of another one, please tell me!


Also, for the sake of time, I'm combining the colors pink and white because they can both be found in the same species. Salvia microphylla, or little-leaf sage is a dense woody sage from the southwest. It is very similar to the Texas sage or Salvia greggii and is often used in hybridization. This is a plant for a dry sunny spot. The image in the photo below is a white and pink-flowered cultivar called 'Hot Lips'. This is probably the most widely available plant on this list. 'Hot Lips' blooms all summer and well into the autumn! The photo was taken from Goodness Grows Nursery in Lexington Georgia.


Plant salvias not only for their diverse beauty but because they are great perennials for hummingbirds and butterflies. Also, as mentioned before, they are unappetizing to deer and easy to grow and propagate. You only need sun and well-drained soils.

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