Salvia spathacea (Hummingbird Sage)

Prized for its attractive flowers and pleasant scent, Salvia spathacea (Hummingbird Sage) is a semi-evergreen, spreading perennial boasting brilliant flowers borne in large pagoda-like whorls on upright, stout stems. The flower stems rise 2-3 ft. above the foliage and may carry up to 10-20 rose-pink blossoms in maroon calyxes, with large maroon bracts under each whorl. Blooming throughout spring into summer, with some repeat in fall, the blossoms attract hummingbirds. Both bracts and calyxes remain showy for weeks after the flowers fade. They are borne atop a pleasantly aromatic foliage of arrow-shaped, scalloped, wrinkled, bright green leaves, 6-10 in. long (15-25 cm). Vigorous, Hummingbird Sage is useful in dry shade and adds rich color and attractive foliage to beds and borders, along paths, or as a small-scale ground cover. Evergreen in mild winter climates.

• Recipient of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society.
• Grows up to 1-3 ft. tall (30-90 cm) and 3-5 ft. wide (90-150 cm). Hummingbird Sage spreads slowly by underground rhizomes, forming a dense foliage mat.
• Thrives in full sun to partial shade in light, moderately fertile, well-drained soils. Provide little to occasional irrigation (once or twice a month) after the first year. Drought tolerant once established.
• Easy to grow, fairly pest and disease free, it attracts butterflies and hummingbirds but is deer resistant.
• Perfect for beds and borders, wall-side borders, city gardens, coastal gardens, cottage gardens, Mediterranean gardens. Lovely groundcover for the dry shade garden.
• Remove flower spikes as they fade to prolong flowering.
• Propagate by seed.
• Native to southern and central California. Endemic to the California coast, with a range that stretches from Orange County to the Napa Valley.