Perovskia, Russian Sage 'Little Spire'

Very nice, not quite as tall as standard Russian Sage, though it does like to spread. Blooms June-October in my garden. PP #11643

I have bought this plant on 2 seperate occasions and both times grew a 3' plant too big for the spaces I put them in. I like the toughne...Read Moress it offers and color/texture. I am trying a new cultivar from Europe called Lacey Blue that is supposed to stay under 20" in height and is very compact.

Well, I'm happy to consider that the Perovskia "Little Spires" that I bought were mismarked, but mine are easily 4 feet tall, sprawling a...Read Morell over the place. Beautiful, though, and loved by a pair of goldfinches. I'm going to try pinching them back in June at least once to keep them more manageable.

In Minnesota, I have used many of these wonderful perennials as background or center-bed accents in my landscape berms for the past four ...Read Moreyears. They have grown nicely everywhere, but they seem to be most prolific in the beds covered with a natural cedar mulch. Those planted in beds covered with river rock still give me a nice display bush, but the rock seems to limit some of their natural tendancy to multiply and expand. Don't plant them any closer than 3' apart, if you want them to look like separate plants/bushes. They are fairly carefree, need no staking and grow to about 3' high by early August and bloom from July to the first frost. I trim them down to about 8 inches after the snow melts, but before the new spring growth begins. I especially love the sage fragrance of the foliage and the way they attract droves of honey bees, bumble bees and butterflies.