Reasons to Grow Your Own Salvia

With their beautiful, brightly colored flower spikes, salvias are a must-grow plant for your summer garden. They're members of the easy-to-grow mint family (Lamiaceae) and closely related to sage. We typically reserve the word "sage" for the culinary herb, while salvias are more ornamental plants (though some are edible!).

These plants have tons of benefits for vegetable gardens, pollinator gardens, and cut flower gardens alike, including:

• The nectar-rich tubular flowers are beloved by hummingbirds and attract all kinds of bees and butterflies.
• These plants bloom for months and months, often from mid- to late summer all the way to frost.
• Salvias are drought-tolerant and deer-resistant plants. They thrive in hot weather, and some are even super winter-hardy.
• The strong fragrance of the leaves repels certain garden pests while masking the scent of desirable crops from other pests.

Let's look at how to plant, grow, and care for salvia flowers, plus my favorite ways to enjoy the blooms.

Ornamental Sage Plant Varieties

In total, there are almost 1,000 sage plant types. You can grow ornamental sage plants in shades of purple, blue, red, pink, and white. Plants range from 18 inches to 5 feet tall.

Before buying a salvia, make sure to note whether it's a hardy perennial or should be treated like an annual plant in your climate.

Annual Salvias

Annual salvias finish their life cycle in one year. They won't come back next year except from dropped seeds.

Mealy blue sage is often considered an annual since it's only hardy in zones 8 and up. I have seeds for a type called "Blue Victory", which produces these gorgeous dark purple flowers. I planted it this year in some containers spread throughout my kitchen garden. It only grows about 20 inches tall and attracts tons of pollinators.

If you're looking for a red salvia, scarlet sage, a native of Brazil, is only perennial in frost-free areas. There's also pineapple sage, one of my favorite ornamental sage plants to grow. This type comes from Mexico and Central America and produces bright red tubular flowers in late summer that are basically magnets for hummingbirds. Plants can grow up to 4 feet tall but will only survive winter in warmer climates.

Perennial Salvias

Perennial salvias will stay evergreen in warmer climates. In colder climates, they'll die back during winter and then return from their roots in the spring.

Woodland sage, also called blue sage, is a hardy perennial plant from Central Europe and Western Asia. It features beautiful blue flowers and can grow up to 5 feet tall. Look for seeds for a type called "Violet Queen" for a heavenly scented plant that enjoys a long bloom time. It's perennial in zones 3 through 9.

Autumn sage comes in a variety of colors and grows 2 to 3 feet tall.

How to Source Salvia Plants

Salvias are slow to grow from seed. They take up to 15 days to germinate and then need to get their roots nice and established before they even think about flowering.

You'll need to start salvia seeds indoors at least 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost date if you want to have blooms by the end of summer. That's especially important if you're growing a perennial plant, which is often slower to bloom.

If you're not up for seed starting, you can usually find salvia plant starts at your local nursery in the spring. Look for healthy green foliage and plants that haven't bloomed yet (they'll typically transplant better than more mature plants).

If you already have salvias in your garden (or know someone who's happy to share), you can also take stem cuttings and make new plants. More on that in a bit!

Where to Grow Salvias

Sun

Give your salvias full sun (at least 6 hours a day) to maximize blooms.

Soil

Salvias do best in well-draining soil. If you're planting in the ground, consider amending the top 6 inches of your soil with compost and coarse sand to improve drainage. Salvias tolerate poor soil, so you don't really need to worry about adding in tons of nutrients.

Site

I love to grow annual salvias around the borders of my raised beds. They don't grow too tall, but they do send up flower spikes that bring tons of bees and butterflies to my garden. They also add color to the garden bed. Since they'll die after the first frost, I don't feel bad removing them with the rest of my warm season plants so that I can have a clean slate for my cool season garden.

Perennial salvias grow into small bushes, so they're better grown in large containers or right in the ground. I love growing pineapple sage and woodland sage in my pollinator garden, which surrounds my kitchen garden. By the end of last summer, these plants were gigantic. If you're going for a cottage-style garden, definitely add some salvia for the height and texture. I recommend planting salvia in groups of 3 throughout your bed or border.

If you're growing salvia in a container, look for something at least 12 inches deep with good drainage holes in the bottom.

When to Plant Salvia

If you want to direct sow salvia seeds outdoors, wait until all danger of frost has passed. (Find your last frost date here.) Plants grow best in warmer soil, so I recommend waiting about 2 weeks after your last frost date.

Start salvia seeds indoor at least 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost date in order to have mature enough plants to move outdoors when the weather is warming up. Wait until your last frost has passed to transplant salvia plants.

You can plant perennial salvia in early fall if you missed your spring planting window. That should give the plants enough time to establish their roots before winter arrives.

How to Plant Salvia

From Seed

Salvia seeds are tiny. And like many of their cousins in the mint family, they like to feel a little light on their seed coats before they sprout. Instead of burying them, you'll just press seeds into the soil surface. Keep the soil moist while you're waiting on germination (10 to 15 days).

If you're seed starting indoors, place just one seed per cell (and consider using a heat mat if your house stays under 70°F). For direct sowing, it's typically recommend to plant in groups of 3 and then thin to 1 plant every 12 inches once your seedlings are a couple inches tall.

Make sure to harden off seedlings started indoors before planting.

From Plant

Follow these steps to plant salvia seedlings or plants:

1. Trim back some of the taller stems on the plant to encourage bushier growth.
2. Loosen the soil down to 12 inches. Remove any large stones or debris. If your soil is clay-heavy, mix in some coarse sand and compost to improve drainage.
3. Dig a hole that's twice as wide as the pot and just as deep. Place the pot inside the planting hole to make sure the top of the root ball is level with the soil surface.
4. Place your salvia in the planting hole and backfill with soil.
5. Space plants 1 to 3 feet apart, depending on the variety.
6. Water in well.

If your plants are growing in the ground, you may want to mulch around them to repress weeds and retain moisture.

How to Care for Salvia

Water

Once your plants are established, salvias are drought-tolerant. I only water if my garden's gone more than a week without rain. You'll know you need to water if the leaves of your plant begin to wilt. Note: You'll need to water plants growing in containers and pots more than plants in the ground.

When watering, aim your water at the roots of the plant, not the leaves.

Feed

You don't really need to add more nutrients for salvias grown in the ground or in raised beds filled with rich soil. For plants grown in containers, add some fresh compost around the base of the plant every quarter.

I don't recommend using synthetic fertilizers, but if you want to apply something, look for a fertilizer low in nitrogen. Nitrogen encourages more leaves instead of flowers. Instead, use something that encourages flowering and fruiting.

Prune

Pinch back, or deadhead, spent flowers to encourage your plants to keep blooming throughout the season. At the end of the season, leave these flowers on the plant to feed birds over winter.

For perennial plants, wait until spring, when your plant is sending up fresh shoots, to cut back the old growth.

If your plant grows woody over time, cut back some of those woodier lower stems at their base.

Protect

Salvia are rarely affected by pests and disease. In fact, having these plants in your garden typically improves your overall garden health by attracting tons of beneficial insects, including pest predators.

The main thing you'll be protecting your salvia plants from is cold weather. In milder climates, add some compost or mulch around the base of your perennial plants to protect them from frost. If the variety you're growing isn't winter hardy in your area, consider digging up the plant and overwintering it in a pot indoors.

How to Propagate Salvia

It's easy to root cuttings from mature salvia plants. This is something I call plant magic, and it makes for a great winter project to ensure you have lots of plants ready to put out in the spring.

Follow these steps to propagate salvia plants:

1. Take cuttings in late summer or early fall. Avoid woody stems. Look for soft, non-flowering stems that are about 3 to 5 inches long.
2. Prepare the cuttings by pulling off the lower leaves from each cutting. Cut the bottom at a 45° angle to encourage root growth. Dip stems in rooting hormone, if you have it, or cinnamon (to prevent mold).
3. Mix compost and coarse sand in a small pot. Wet the soil. Insert your cuttings. You can plant multiple cuttings in the same pot since they won't be staying here too long.
4. Place the pot in indirect light. Keep the soil moist but not soaking.

With luck, your cuttings will begin to form roots in about 3 weeks. You can pot up your rooted cuttings until it's time to move them out to the garden. Now you have free plants to add to your garden or give away!

How to Harvest & Enjoy Salvia

Use a clean pair of pruners or scissors to cut flowering stems at their base. I love to snip a few blooms for little arrangements around my house — it's such an easy way to bring the garden indoors. As a cut flower, salvia can last anywhere from 7 to 14 days in a vase.

If you have a particularly fragrant salvia, consider drying leaves for potpourri. The best time to cut leaves for scent is in the morning, when the leaves will contain the most essential oils.

Some varieties of salvia are edible, like pineapple sage, while others, like scarlet salvia, are not. Check which variety you're growing, and only consume anything if you're certain it's safe.

Both the leaves and flowers of pineapple sage are edible. Each little funnel contains nectar that you can drink by pinching the flower at its vase, pulling out the little string, and sipping. It tastes like honeysuckle mixed with pineapple. The leaves can be tossed fresh into salads or dried to make tea.

Time to Grow Some Salvia

Whether you're planting annual flowers in your raised beds or perennials in your landscaping, you won't regret growing this beautiful, low-maintenance plant. The bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds will certainly thank you!