Salvia Species, Elegant Sage, Pineapple Sage

In Phoenix, this plant grows very well and far exceeded our expectations. The foliage always stays a deep green and blooms throughout th...Read Moree year. The superior winter blooms make this plant a magnet for the hummingbirds. We have our Pineapple Sage planted in almost full Arizona sun and it seems to perform very well even during the summer months, regardless of watering conditions. It seems this plant prefers a lot of sun with warm climates and to stay on the drier side. The leaves provide a slight pineapple aroma.

Here in San Diego I have struggled with this plant. It didn't seem to like our cool wet winters. I moved a plant that was struggling to a...Read More raised bed, and within 6 months it is flourishing. 4ft tall and 7 ft wide. I didn't expect it to take over. The hummingbirds love it, so i let it have its space

Good drainage and being on dry side seemed to greatly help this plant.

Have this plant in my pollinator garden and i can tell is beautiful !

I live in zone 7b, but obviously my pineapple sage didn't realize that it shouldn't grow in my zone. It established itself pretty quick...Read Morely & almost weekly it grew in leaps & bounds. I was awaiting the beautiful red blooms & they came just as I had been told. The only thing that I wish I had been more aware of was the weight of the blooms, & how they weighed down the stalks of the plants. They are back this year & I'll spike them to help keep them upright this year.

I started all of my pineapple sages from 1 gallon pots. Two I started in May and they bloomed for a few weeks right after I put them in t...Read Morehe ground. In July I planted 3 more. They are very thirsty plants and even with our wet summers, I had to make sure they were well watered. I didn't get any blooms during the summer, but in October they started to bloom. I am happy to report that there are more blooms than leaves right now! The yellow sulfurs as well as 3 or 4 other species of butterflies LOVE them! I'm going to take some cuttings from them this winter so I can plant more of these in the spring. They are huge, but well worth it when you have to wade through butterflies just to get past the bush!!

Beautiful plant, but of the three I planted, two of them died and the third only started looking healthy in July and only got one bloom o...Read Moren it all summer. I think I'll treat it as an annual in the future.

My pineapple sage is going thru it's third summer here in my yard. Sadly for me, Iv've had to beg it to not die. After

...Read Morereading on the tag that it would be happier on the drier and sunny side, I planted it in spring under the overhang in

unimproved slightly sandy soil on the west side of our shed...it Survived that winter without mulching but was very

near death by the following summer. I then moved it to a site that gets morning sun and afternoon shade

and improved the soil in the planting hole with composted leaves and then fertilized...it only perked up slightly, didn't

grow and only made a couple of sad blooms that fall. Again it died to the ground the following winter but came back fine

in the spring but only grew to about 10". It's now July 2011
(it's 3rd summer here) and hot and humid in s. MS and again

it was near death so last month I moved it to a shadier and
more moist bedand cut it back a little. It is looking better

than it has since it's first year but still only about 8 inches tall
and the leaves are a light green color rather than a healthy

dark green. I think one of the other posters is correct in saying that it doesn't like the heat I really want this plant to do

well for me as I love that pineapple scent of the leaves when they're brushed and the vivid red blooms that come in the

fall. I will definitly keep trying to find a place that makes it happy...I do not want to lose this one.

I love the smell of Pineapple Sage! I get beautiful flowers later in the summer that give the garden a dash of bright red color. This p...Read Morelant is mostly an annual in 6a in Rochester, NY. I have one that is sheltered from my front step and porch that is reliably perennial. It has come back every year since I planted it 4 years ago.

This was my first year growing Pineapple Sage. I bought a small starter plant in early June 2010 from a local garden center and planted i...Read Moret in my Aurora, CO backyard. It got watered along with the lawn so it flourished well in semi-shade even though its a dry climate here and it does soak up quite a bit of water but is carefree. It grew huge in one season. We had a long Indian summer in CO this year and frost came late some time in October just after it started to bloom so I covered it for a few nights during the first frost as it got warm one more time and then potted it up in the largest pot I could find and brought it inside to the southern exposure living room where it happily kept on blooming for about 2 weeks then dropped the blooms and the leaves started to develop a brown ridge around them so it was not so pretty anymore as its dry inside the house. A mister or humidifier would help. I pruned it by about a third and harvested some of the big leaves for tea and the blooms for decoration of dishes (they taste sweet) but left it standing and watered it generously and now it has developed many small fresh leaves while dropping most of the big old leaves and I removed the rest of the old leaves gradually (gently, they came right off without scissors ) so it looks appealing and healthy again like a new plant, growing in the middle of winter (Jan 2011) while we have snow outside. When it blooms its just gorgeous! I plan on planting it back outside this spring or at least take the pot outside. The only thing I missed was hummingbirds visiting as they had already left my vicinity by the time the Pineapple Sage was in bloom. This plant is memorable so it was worth the extra time and effort of bringing it inside and its easy to grow. I imagine that in a warmer zone it may grow too much but on the other hand you do not have to bring it inside. It grows into a bush in one season and the blooms are a pretty red.

Very easy to grow and transplant. Grows like weed. Beautiful foliage, and red flowers in late summer.

I grow this as an annual in my Zone 6 area of East Tennessee. This is one of my all-time favorite herbs with which to cook. I use it in...Read More almost everything -- chicken, fish, vegetables, herb oils. I have also found that it freezes well at the end of the season, which leaves it tasting fresher than if I dried it.

Grew this plant as an annual in Rapids City, IL this is the first year in FL, it grew about 3 foot in part shade, flowered from Sept and ...Read Moreis still in bloom now, the first part of Nov. but the scent is not as strong as it was in IL, hopefully it will be as the weather cools.

This has been my first year trying pineapple sage in my cold-winter, xeriscaped, windy garden. It's grown quite well, getting fairly tal...Read Morel by the end of the season, with no need for supplemental water. However, it has yet to bloom here. I've read many times that in cooler climates, pineapple sage usually starts to grow faster and then starts blooming late in the season, and that you can then pot it up and bring it in and it will keep on blooming indoors, so when it started growing more rapidly about two months ago, I expected it to bloom soon. However, I've yet to spy so much as a bud. I'm not sure why, as I planted it back in late spring (after last frost) and it's gotten good sunlight all season and has seemed very healthy the whole time as well. I came to this this page to check what temperature will kill it to know how soon to pot it up. I'm going to try bringing it inside now that it's getting cold here and seeing if it starts to bloom.

I'm giving it a Positive instead of Neutral rating mostly because I've been so delighted this year to have the scent of pineapples released into the air every time I brush the plant when working near it in the garden. I think it's worth planting for that alone, for people who love fragrance in the garden.

(A note regarding a comment below about pineapple sage not being drought tolerant in a container: No plant is drought tolerant or xeric in a container. For a plant to be truly drought tolerant or xeric, it has to be planted in the ground. My pineapple sage has been thoroughly drought tolerant in my xeric, poor-soil, windy garden.)

Last year I planted two very small plants that grew to aprox. 3 ft., and they flowered from late spring all the way through fall. The...Read More nursery called it cantaloupe sage saying it was the same as pineapple, (or another name for it.)
This year, I purchased two more small plants which read "Pineapple Sage" that were in 3" pots and planted them in a garden corner. So far, I've had to cut them back by almost half 3 seperate times once they reached about 5 ft. I never realized they would get that big. That just made them bush out even more, so now each plant is about 5' tall and 5' wide!!! They didn't flower all season like last years, but it was well worth the wait once they began.
They received regular watering, only one general feediing the whole season, and they're in mostly clay soil, so I'm feeling pretty lucky this year. I don't know if there is/was a difference between the Sage from last year and the one from this year. They look exactly alike except for the flowering times and the extra height. I do love them though!!!

This plant has been enjoying southern exposure, by the deck for the past three years. The soil was enriched with a good fertilizer based...Read More potting soil. It grows about 4 feet by 4 feet and loads up with red blooms in October.

We whack it down through the winter, but it happily sprouts up lots of new stems in spring and grows like mad. Those sprouts will quickly have aerial roots at the base. If the 3 foot sprouts are snatched off from the base root, then the aerial roots will easily allow the detached stem to take hold and grow. The soft fuzzy green leaves look pretty next to the cool blue-green leaves of the siberian iris.

It is a fantastic hummingbird plant. In our area it is surviving the winters, but some our other pineapple sage in less protected locations have not survived the North Alabama winters. Anyone hoping to have it survive zone 7a winters, might want to be sure to try it against a southern wall. Cutting it to the ground in fall and adding a mulch layer might also be helpful.

I just got a Pineapple Sage out here in Korea... Unfortunately, it has started to display speckled leaves There are brown / black spots o...Read Moren the leaves.

Gavin

I have grown this for years here in Arlington, Texas, for the fragrance and brilliant red autumn flowers. Here it must usually be grown a...Read Mores a tender perennial and rarely survives winters. Also it is very sensitive to drying out and to soggy soil or overwatering. Nonetheless, it's well worth growing, as a successful planting produces a brilliantly flowered butterfly magnet with very pleasant pineapple-scented foliage.

I´m new to growing Herbs, not doing too badly for a newbie. One of my absolute favorites in my Herb Garden is my Pineapple Sage. I LOV...Read MoreE it in Salsa, especially in sweet/fruit varieties, I also use it in Pasta Salads even Chili as an accompaniment to my Mexican Sage...I look foward to trying the Pineapple Sage Pound Cake in the recipe above. I don´t understand why it isn´t used more widely with Chefs ? Many things taste sooooo much better when it is added to the Recipe!!

I just replanted mine in a bigger pot. I thought I was doing everything right, but days after I repotted, the leaves started turning brow...Read Moren. Now, three weeks later, it is completely dead....so sad :(

I am surprised by the postings that say this plant is drought-resistant. I bought it through eBay because the seller also said that. Ho...Read Morewever, it takes only a day without water for this plant to wilt in my patio planter tub. Also, the seller had to send me a replacement TWICE because it had such a hard time making the trip; the first 2 were wilted to the point of not being revivable before I could even plant them. I've now had the surviving plant for a couple of years, and it does fine -- but only if I don't let it get dry. Maybe it's the lack of dew in these here parts? I live in zone 10, and the plant gets full sun only half a day -- but that sun is strong. I know it wouldn't want full shade, though. So what's a southern California mother to do?

I have grown one of these in a big pot every summer now for the past 3 or 4 years. It has come to be one of my regular favorites. In SE...Read More WI (53402) it is an annual only plant unless you can keep it very brightly lit indoors (such as with a HID grow lamp) which I don't bother to do...

Anyways, this plant is one of the last of the year to flower, which is nice because after most everything else is done, I've still got flowers to look forward to.

The hardest part with it is that it needs a fairly heavy amount of watering when it is in a pot and the weather is hot and sunny. It seems to lose quite a bit of water through its leaves. Other than that it's a pretty simple to grow plant.

Oh and one more thing, the biggest problem that I encounter with these is that they seem to be susceptible to wind damage... A windy day will sometimes snap branches off, and sometimes even the thicker branches towards the bottom break off, causing a large portion of the plant to be lost. Last year (2010) I grew this as usual, only we had a windy day in September, and the entire plant broke off, right at the ground. The root system was intact, but it was too late in the year to grow it back to flowering size. This year I am going to be more conscientious of the wind damage factor, and bring it indoors or up against the side of the house where it is shielded from the stronger wind gusts.

Love this plant but I lose every one of them due to some insect that invades the hollow stems. Small white bug, looks sort of like an ant...Read More or termite of somekind. Afraid to use insect spray since it does attract hummingbirds.

This is a great plant for its smell and foliage. It smells and tastes like pineapple ! Great plant; I'm not sure about its hardiness, but...Read More a few of my neighbors have them from a few years ago and they're doing great!

I love how this plant smells! It is a bit delicate, however. Last fall, just as it was starting to bloom we had a cold snap where it dr...Read Moreopped to the low 20's overnight. I brought it in the house as soon as I saw it that morning. I watered it and left it in the house in the hope that it wouldn't die. The poor thing went into shock and turned brown and lost all its leaves. I thought it had died, and gave up and moved it to my potting bench in the garage for throwing it out later and forgot about it. A couple of weeks later I saw it and it had leafed out again! So, I brought it in the house and overwintered it in my south-facing office room. I just transplanted it into a nice big pot and put it back outside and it's doing quite well. I've been moving it in and out to give it a chance to gradually adjust to the cool (but not freezing) nights.

When I transplanted it, I accidentally broke off a few shoots so I put them in water in hopes that they'd root. Not only have they rooted, but they've grown a couple of inches and are blooming! The main plant doesn't even have buds.

I love Pineapple Sage! It is one of the first things to show green in spring here and grows beautifully all summer. By the time it blooms...Read More in late Aug. early Sept., it is huge! How beautiful it is covered with bright red flowers that the hummingbirds can not resist. I love to sit in my garden and watch them swarm the plant. I also love to show visitors to my garden how to crush the leaves and smell the fresh pineapple smell. It is so easy to propagate as well, I have new plants come up voluntarily every spring. If you get a chance to grow this plant, you should it gives oout nothing but pleasure.

This is the third year this plant has come back in my garden. I guess it's true that plants can't read zone maps as I'm in zone 7b and i...Read Moret's hardy to zone 8. It gets better & bigger every year! It's super easy to grow, smells wonderful & the hummers adore it! What else is there?

Pineapple sage blooms all year long in my backyard here in San Francisco. I have spread it by simply sticking cuttings into the ground......Read More It also reseeds like crazy; there are many new plants growing nicely now in late April under my oldest one (2+ years old.) This oldest one is floppy, but I tie it to the fence. The lower stems are woody & bare now, but the new young ones beneath it are almost tall enough now to cover the old one's bare lower stems. The hummingbirds love it - I see and hear them so often, sipping from its long scarlet blooms. The scent is so fantastic, too. Such a wonderful plant.

I grew Pineapple sage as an annual, and kept it two years by growing cuttings indoors during the winter. It's a wonderful, fast-growing b...Read Moreushy plant, and cuttings root very easily.

I have two groupings of three plants each in different areas of my garden. One group has part shade exposure, the other has full sun (mo...Read Morerning sun, afternoon shade). The full sun group grew to about 4 feet tall, and began blooming in October. The part shade group grew to about 5 feet tall and began blooming in late November.

I love that this plant blooms so late in the season. When everything else is going dormant, the Pineapple Sage really shines. The bees and hummingbirds sure do appreciate these flowers- there are not many flowers available on other plants in late fall.

In my garden, these plants like a good deep drink once a week, although if the weather is hot, they will let me know that they're thirsty by dramatically drooping and curling their leaves. In the hottest part of the summer, it's not unusual for them to need to be watered 2 or 3 times a week.

I planted a couple this year in May in our sage patch (Minneapolis zone 4 + with urban heat bubble microclimate.). It is very aromatic g...Read Morerew about 3 feet in a season .The plant is thirsty and needs daily waterring in the heat of July. I repotted the outdoor plants about 9/15 in two large containers and left them in the community garden for a few more weeks before transferring them to south and west facing windows at my home and office. With extra plant lights and religous watering they appear to have accepted the demotion to house plants. The little new leaves smell the most pineapply. When they bloom next I intend to try the bread recipe above.

I love Pineapple Sage, but it's not hardy here, have to plant it every year. Love the flowers and the scent of the leaves. Have to star...Read Moret planting it in the ground, maybe it would bloom sooner, because I have been planting it in 20" containers. Wish it would bloom alot sooner too and longer for my area.

Summer of 2006, I had 'Golden Delicious' Pineapple Sage and the red Pineapple Sage in potted containers. 'G D' is beautiful also!

We live in Massachusetts, z6a-b. We bought the plant as a little thing, at a garden center because the leaves were so fragrant. And it ...Read Morehad a beautiful red flower ... that was in May. We planted it, waiting for the red flowers. It grew and grew, to huge proportions ... still waiting for the red flowers. Then in October it started to bloom. What a wonderful surprise. Our little plant is now a bush with abundant stems of red flowers. Incredible as it may seem, we've had two hard frosts but our salvia elegans is as vigorous as ever. We love this plant, and will try to overwinter it indoors.

I love my Pineapple Sage here in Fayetteville, NC. I have started it from little shoots around the base of the plant. I have three in m...Read Morey yard and plan to share with others. This year it seemed a bit leggy; however, so was the coleus. No big deal ... it is blooming now and I'll let it collect leaves then mulch it. Next year, I'll probably try a little fertilizer as I didn't fertilize at all this year. I'm also going to try to put it with various velvet sages. This year I had the pineapple sage growing about two bush lengths away from a purple velvet sage and decided right then and there that next year, they will be together ... the colors will be outrageous! I'll put some red velvet with it.

I'm smitten. I got one off the "nearly dead" clearance table and plunked it in the ground just to see what would happen. It was mixed i...Read Moren with a bunch of other plants that were doing well next to the gravel driveway/picket fence (not the most hospitable environment) so I never really paid attention until (suddenly!) it bloomed in beautiful clear red. I'm going to try to cheat a zone or two by moving it up against the south side of the house in the herb garden...... since it works for the rosemary I'm hoping it'll work for this plant too. I figure it's airy enough that it won't crowd out the parsley and the hummingbirds and I will be thrilled if it comes back. If this doesn't work I'll definitely grow it as an annual (en masse) next year.

I grew pineapple sage in my zone 6a/b. I planted it near my house foundation, slightly protected by a lilac. It died back but popped ri...Read Moreght up in the spring. It is now doing great in its second year. Mine is much larger than 48"!!! In 2005 it got to 3.5' and this year it is about 4' tall by 2' wide. I tried one in a container, but it never returned and didn't do as well as when in the ground.

I bought this from a nursery as a small plant in the late spring. It is HUGE now and more of a bush than not! It hasn't bloomed yet but...Read More I look forward to that in the next couple of months!

Lovely plant but requires more watering than I give my garden. Constantly wilted in hot weather.

I love this plant. I planted it a few years ago and it grew nicely in full sun. One fall day I looked out and I was pleasantly surprized ...Read Moreby a profusion of red flowers. I enjoyed the flowers and an occasional hummingbird until the first frost when it completely died. One of my favorite annuals. I will try to save seeds this year.

I live in deep south Texas where its hot most of the year and for Spring I got 7 little pots of Red Salvia and I can say they are floweri...Read Moreng and doing pretty good under the Sugarberry tree..something I did not think it was going to do.

This is an annual in my part of the world, but I still like to grow it. It flowers late in the summer for me. I like to just sniff the cr...Read Moreushed leaves, so refreshing!
Here is a recipe I like to share with you all.

Pineapple Sage Pound Cake Recipe
The bright red flowers adds that bit of wow to this cake!

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
5 eggs
2 tablespoons chopped pineapple sage leaves (the small, new leaves are best)
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped pineapple sage flowers, if available
1 teaspoon grated lemons, rind of
4 tablespoons well drained crushed pineapple
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups flour

Makes 1 loaf or 4 miniature loafs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Grease and flour four miniature loaf pans*.
Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy.
Beat in the honey.
Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to beat for one minute after each addition.
Beat in the sage leaves, flowers, lemon peel, and crushed pineapple.
Stir the dry ingredients together and add to the butter mixture.
Fold these together gently, until just blended.
Pour into loaf pans.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes ( time for 1 loaf), or until golden brown (wooden pick inserted into center will come out clean).

In the late summer and fall, into early winter or the first good frost, one cannot have enough pineapple sage to take care of the passing...Read More mummers and b-fly's, and native b-fly's, moths, wasps and bees, and and who knows what all else. Comes back - usually - from the roots in the spring, esp if mulched or otherwise protected. My best is enmeshed with rootbound cocosmia. It tends sometimes rot in our winters that are wet, drainage is not good, a characteristic of lots of plants on the northshore of New Orleans. Pineapple sage has done better than any other savia species for me, even surviving being smothered by hundreds of pounds of pine tree tops from Katrina, and subsequent drought. It has not seeded for me. Although it is not native to this area, I consider it a welcome guest.

I no sooner got it in the ground with organic compost and some peat hummus than it was starting to flower. it is February 20 here where I...Read More am in Pinellas County, Florida.

It is a happy little plant. Am reading some comments on it getting 4 feet high. I was under the (obviously wrong) impression it stayed under 2 1/2 feet. If it does get huge like that I will put it elsewhere in the yard as a shrub.

I love this sage! Its very aromatic and i love it better than the other sage plants. To me it was hard to find and when i found it, it wa...Read Mores in a 6 inch container, early spring. I plan to buy more this coming spring, if i can find any. EVERY garderner should own at least one of these.

Beautiful late fall bloomer, with a profusion of bright red spikes at 2,700 feet near Nevada City, California. Has bloomed into December ...Read Morethe last two years! 4-5 feet tall and wide after getting established.

Two thumbs up positive!! This plant did spectacular for me and what a surprise when I looked out my window and saw bright red blooms! I ...Read Morejust had to brave the bughaven and go outside to snap some pictures! Awesome smell too!

I've grown this plant at least five years and although I occasionally lose a plant in one location, others in different parts of the yard...Read More always come back. It takes up a lot of space, but when it blooms in late summer, it is well worth it.

This plant grows as an annual here in my zone 5 garden and is very aromatic. It's leaves are great flavoring in tea or cooking. The flo...Read Morewer spikes bloom in late summer to early fall and are a pretty red color.

I have the original plant bought over 3 yrs ago. I made cuttings that survived 2 winters and succesfully replanted in my garden.
...Read More
Last winter, a bug I couldn't identify destroyed my cuttings. I said goodbye to my plant.

Surprise! The original plant was found sprouting from the root in April! It continues to grow!

I live in Marietta Ga, an area considered tender for pineapple sage.

I must add, the plant grows each year to be huge! The trunk of original plant must be almost an inch, and I had to stake from first yr planted. Rubbing the leaf produces a wonderful aroma too!

resqme1065

Pineapple sage is one of our favorite herbs in the garden. It has a vibrant green leaf and then sprouts a beautiful red flower. When you ...Read Morerub the leaves together you get a great aroma.

Great in the Japanese summer, heat brings out the smell nicely...

Great plant here in central MS. I do not cut the stems over the winter and it has returned for 6 years....it grows to be a five+ foot s...Read Morehrub by the end of the year and blooms in fall, and is spectacular. I grow it in a part shade, part sun situation. I does seem to self-sow and sometimes I'll find another plant in a nearby container.

I just love the smell of this herb. Just a little rub on the leaves will produce the sweet pineapple scent. I like it in teas and other...Read More culinary uses. Attractive leaves and flowers too.

I love the colour of the flower of this plant and I love the fact that it tolerates dry soils. Tough and hardy. Like most Salvias. pokerboy.

A very beautiful flowering tall shrub hardy from zone 7a and 7b southward. One of the most popularily known and grown plant in the South ...Read Moreand one of the best plants for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. This plant is great in full sun, where it can grow fairly quickly during the summer. It also does very well in partial shade with some sun!

Love the smell of it. The stems can be brittle and often break in strong winds. In some winters it has no problems with frosts, but in c...Read Moreolder winters it gets knocked back.

This was my first year with this plant and I just love it. It was about 1 foot tall and 1 branch when I purchased it from Parks in the l...Read Moreate spring, and now it is 4' tall and about 2' wide, it is in part shade, I was not expecting it to do so well, but I really love it.

I have rooted some cuttings so I can distribute a couple more over my yard and share with some neighbors, my cuttings rooted in a sunny window in about 7 days.

My plant grows next to an anise bush and a butterfly bush, there is also a don juan rose growing close by and these scents mixed together is heaven, I could not have planned my walkway any better, as it is it kind of happened by accident.

4-24-05
My plant has come back wonderfully I cannot wait for the bloom this year.

Has grown well in compact clay soil that has poor drainage. Smells great!

I tried this indoors originally, but it began to look very sickly, despite getting enough light. It was turning brown and wilting and I ...Read Morenearly threw it away… good thing I gave it one last chance by moving outside (in zone 9a). I also cut off one third of the plant (the worst of the damaged, ugly parts) and resolved to ignore it completely save watering it with my other herbs. It thanked me with new growth in a few weeks, and more after that. The plant has now restored enough of itself that I’ve cut off all of the brown parts and I am amazed that this is the very same plant I almost threw away—it looks lovely!

I suppose the moral of the story is natural sunlight for pineapple sage. Many other plants really love fluorescent lights (like many people have in their kitchens or offices), but not this one. If you want a fragrant herb in the kitchen where you can smell it all the time, this is not the one for you (I’d recommend chocolate mint).

this plant has come back after dying to the ground thru the winter. It is very full, about three or four feet wide and tall. It has spr...Read Moreead and I have already divided it into four plants.
The red flowers are beautiful. Last summer it grew to about six feet tall. I have it planted in an area that stays somewhat moist. I have put one of the new clumps in a dry, full sun area to see how it does.

I have loved this plant since the autumn it turned into a "burning bush" in a back bed. For some reason, it has never survived the winte...Read Morer, although some of the other sages have been there for years. I replant pineapple sage as an annual each year. Perhaps this year I'll mulch with fall leaves as suggested in an earlier post; since the other sages receive a natural leaf mulch just from their location, maybe pineapple sage will manage to return next year on its own.

I always plant it somewhere in the back bed so I can see it from my window in autumn and be heartened by the glorious color.

I've had pineapple sage growing in my garden for several years. I have it planted in full sun and cut it back every fall and give it a b...Read Morelanket of either leaves or mulch after the first freeze. In the spring, when the rains start, I pull the leaves/mulch away and it springs right back to life. I have a fairly compacted clayey type soil but that doesn't seem to bother it.

In zone 10 this plant flowers with us from mid-Autumn all through Winter until I cut it back in Spring. The bright scarlet flowers are re...Read Moreally welcome in the Winter garden.
The scent of the leaves is lovely, so plant it where you will brush against it.
It is very drought tolerant- but leggy in those conditions, better with moderate water.

My pineapple sage grew quite well through our cool and rainy Northcentral Florida, zone 8b, Summer this year, and is now gloriously in bl...Read Moreoom in late October and early November. The heavy Summer rain made the three-foot-tall stems flop over, and they have now rooted, making a three foot square plant that started out last March as a small, 8" tall seedling bought from an herb booth at a plant fair.

I have grown this plant before in Florida so knew what to expect. The plant is just covered in brilliant red flower spikes that can be seen from across the garden. It is a butterfly magnet, especially for Cloudless Giant Sulphurs.

This sage will root in water, so it is easy to have them all over the garden. My one current large plant is in a perennial bed near a Brown Turkey fig tree underplanted with several different iris, with red antique roses on a trellis in the background, and other herbs, such as parsley, lovage, and valerian, all within a border of white flowered garlic chives. But the flowers of the sage can compete with even the wine red roses!

Although an annual here in z5b, Pineapple Sage is a lovely and dependable addition to the butterfly and hummingbird garden. Sadly, had t...Read Moreo pull up the dying plant last week as temps are dropping now. Always one of the first annual herbs purchased in the spring here.

I grow lots of this plant. It is easy to propagate from cuttings or by division of its own self-rooting offshoots. It overwinters for m...Read Moree in pots under my outdoor deck in Bremerton, Washington, and actually flowered all last winter. It doesn't start putting on its best flowering until October or later.

In Florida, it does best in winter and early spring, and is not happy during the hot and humid summers.

Pineapple sage is an October showstopper here in Raleigh, NC (Zone 7b/8a). Beautiful, fragrant foliage throughout the growing season to ...Read More4' high by 4' wide by Sept. and, as its final hurrah, another foot added in all directions of the brilliant red flower spikes in October. A true traffic stopper on my street.

This plant is situated on a slope near the top of a large drainage ditch, in moderately rich, well drained soil.

My plant has been in the ground now for a third growing season and has wintered although is is very tender here. I winter it over by letting it 'catch' the fall leaves, leaving the leaves until late March and NOT cutting the plant back unless the temps drop below 20 degF. Then I cut the plant back to just below its 'leaf pile', piling more leaves on top to protect the hollow stems from moisture (and therefore from rot). So far this has worked - the plant survived long, cold winter (for North Carolina) with a few nights down to 10degF. Come late March, removing the leaves and cutting the plant to the ground seems to work as it comes back, slowly, but comes back nonetheless.

A terrific plant.

Hummingbirds smother this plant with attention when they discover it in bloom.

Here in my USDA Zone 3 climate, I raise Salvia elegans as an annual, but it's a favorite of mine. I usually try to winter it over ...Read Moreindoors and root cuttings in the spring.

Rub a leaf, then inhale the authentic smell of pineapples! Of all the aromatic plants this one must surely be the best. Fresh leaves can...Read More be put into summer fruit salads, used to decorate desserts or be added to jams, jellies or cream cheese for flavouring. Use dried leaves for potpourri mixes or for herbal butter and teas. Or just enjoy its beauty; in early summer the tender serrated deep green leaves are reward enough. But towards autumn the plant blooms with vivid, velvety tubular scarlet flowers. They have a mild flavour but can be used as decoration or garnish with food. In its native Mexico this plant attracts humming birds.

Common name refers to the scent of the foliage when crushed or bruised. Grown as a woody shrub in Zones 10-11, herbaceous perennial in Z...Read Moreones 8-9, and as an annual or greenhouse plant in colder zones.