Salvia Species, Baby Sage, Wild Sage

I picked up a couple 1 gallon pots of this (without any label) a few years ago and planted it in a small bed by my front door. It seems...Read More to like a bit of shade compared to other salvias I've grown. In my hot/dry climate, 5-6 hours a day of sun is good. It does take damage from frost and I've used a weed whacker to cut it to 8 inches off the ground in the spring and it grows back like nothing ever happened. It actually looks much better if you do this annually as the old growth doesn't look as good.

It has a nice big broad leaf and it sends up flower spikes that are about 8-12 inches long. The flowers open from the bottom to top and barely last a few days but they are a nice bright blue. Hummingbirds seems to love this, and I believe that butterflies might actually be laying there eggs there as I see a lot of 'munching' that looks like a caterpiller was having a snack. There's a fairly strong, unique scent if you touch it. It almost smells a bit like marijuana but less 'skunky'.

Now, for some people an invasive, creeping plant is considered bad but I have 24,000 feet of garden so I welcomed its creepy habit. It sends out lateral branches along the ground and anywhere they touch it will root. Just make sure to put it somewhere it has a few feet on either side to move, because it definitely will. It won't go running quite like a vine or ivy but it will creepy a couple feet a year. The rooted branches are pretty woody and are easily pulled if you want to keep it contained.

After taking some cuttings where stems rooted into the ground, the original two 1 gallon pots are now about 100 plants that I've used to fill in some big empty areas that needed some interest. Personally, I love having a big swath of it but if you have a small garden you should keep on top of it before it runs over smaller plants.

Didn't survive the 17-degree cold snap.

Bought it last year, never planted it as did not know much about it. Forgot it in its little pot where I left it in the garden, it survi...Read Moreved. I'm planning to plant it but now that I know how big it gets, I'm not sure if I want to, as I don't have the room for a 5'x5' plant! Source for the plant is Annie's Annuals.

Recently identified, this was formerly known as Salvia 'Peru Blue' and Salvia 'Tingo Blue'. A slightly monstrous salvia, this grows here ...Read Moreup to 5', but can spread alarmingly, as lax stems will root along the ground. It is frost tender, but sets lots of viable seed, and cuttings root easily. The leaves are huge, and the flower stems are rather small in comparison with the size of the plant. However, the flowers are an exquisite shade of mid-blue, and this alone makes this plant garden-worthy.
(From Robin's Salvias)