skipping the deadheading. Although
this may leave a hole in the garden
earlier in the season, fresh low foliage
will return and is usually more
appealing than the previous shaggy
growth. Keep plants moist after
cutting back to encourage stronger
regrowth. If plants have not been
previously cut back, remove top
straggly growth for the winter, leaving
the low basal growth.
other maintenance Provide
well-draining soil for best perfor-
mance. These are drought-tolerant,
tough plants. They have a tendency to
flop if given too much shade or overly
rich soil, or if division is needed. Any
dividing should be done in the spring.
related plantS Select cultivars of
Salvia ×sylvestris over the species form
for more compact growth and longer
bloom periods. ‘Blue Hill’ (‘Blauhügel’)
and ‘Rose Queen’ both reach 20 in. and
have distinctive sky-blue and
rose-pink flowers, respectively.
‘Caradonna’ has tall, strong, slim
spikes of violet-blue flowers on dark
stems and is a favorite among many
garden designers. ‘East Friesland’
(‘Ostfriesland’) is a deep violet-blue
sterile form that tolerates heat and
humidity better than others. Marcus
(‘Haeumanarc’) is a purple-blue dwarf
reaching only 12–14 in., and ‘Sensation
Rose’ is a comparable-sized plant in
pink. ‘May Night’ (‘Mainacht’) grows
to 18 in. in height and has been the
Perennial Plant Association’s
Perennial Plant of the Year. ‘Plumosa’
is 18 in. tall with dense, plumelike,
rosy lilac flowers. The New Dimension
Series has 8- to 10-in. plants with blue
and rose flowers.
Salvia argentea ‘Artemis’ is a silver
sage, a drought-tolerant biennial
grown for its striking silver foliage.
Allow some flowering for seeding.
Salvia azurea, blue sage, is a
5-ft.-tall leggy plant for which pinch-
ing or cutting back is often recom-
mended to control laxness. Plants cut
back by half in early June when 15 in.
tall reached 2–3 ft. in height, but the
stems were still weak and very floppy.
Salvia coerulea (formerly S. guaranit-
ica), blue anise sage, has a preference
for full sun and moist but well-drained
soil and can reach 6 ft. tall or more
where growing seasons are long and
warm. It normally needs no staking.
Its cobalt-blue flowers are a favorite
waystation for hummingbirds. Anise
sage is hardy to zones 8–10; in colder
zones it is often used as an annual. In
‘Black and Blue’, a handsome black
calyx holds each dark blue flower.
Salvia greggii, autumn sage, is a
woody but fine-textured sage native to
Texas and central Mexico. It requires
full sun and well-drained soil and
copes well with heat and humidity.
Most selections are hardy only to zone
7 or 8, but gardeners in zone 6 have
had luck overwintering ‘Cold Hardy
Pink’, ‘Furman’s Red’, ‘Pink Preference’,
‘Texas Wedding’ (which may even Salvia ×sylvestris ‘May Night’