Salvia Species, Crimson Sage, Hummingbird Sage, Pitcher Sage

This is one of the few California sages that really excels in the Pacific Northwest. Mine do nicely in our thick clay in partial shade/p...Read Moreartial sun. They seem to appreciate a little summer water (maybe twice a month) after establishment. As the name implies, hummingbirds like to work the magenta flowers.

Dry, shade-loving plant.

Too much water will make it sick, but well-drained soil and a relatively dry summer will yield a ...Read Moregently spreading bed of sticky, fragrant foliage. The fragrance is spicy and strongly fruity.

Tolerates a wide range of conditions, but it prefers Zone 9-11, in partial shade, and moderate to no irrigation once established.

Puts forth flower clusters as big as a child's fist up to softball size, with very long, narrow magenta flowers. Vital food source for hummingbirds when in bloom, and may bloom again if given an after-flowering trim and just a little summer water.

Somewhat herbaceous, flowering stalks will be replaced, sometimes rapidly, by new rhizomes.

A pretty CA native Salvia. S. spathacea has lush light green leaves that contrast nicely with the magenta blooms. The blooms last a long ...Read Moretime and are attractive to wildlife, though they don't seem to garner as much attention from my Anna's and Rufous hummingbirds as the Epilobium canum. It appears to be evergreen, at least in my zone.