This easy shrubby plant makes a gentle mound of felty evergreen foliage, which provides colour and interest all year round.Also a Mediterranean hillside dweller, it thrives in full sun and poor soil. There are various types of common sage including purple sage (Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’) with beautiful purple-grey leaves and ‘Icterina’ with patterned green and yellow leaves.
Another widely available variety is Salvia officinalis ‘Tricolor’ which has multi-coloured grey-green, white and pink leaves. This is less hardy and may be short-lived. If it does die out, plants can simply be replaced.
The plain green (straight Salvia officinalis) is best for cooking, although the others are certainly worth growing for their ornamental value. Simply pick off leaves for use in the kitchen.
In early summer these sages bear spikes of small lilac-blue flowers over the leaves. Common sages grow to about 60-80cm tall and about 1 metre across although ‘Tricolor’ is less vigorous.
Planting – plant pot grown plants at any time except during the coldest wettest weather. Consider the eventual width of the plant as it may otherwise swamp its neighbours and cutting it back will expose bare woody stems.
Soil and position – best of all in full sun and sandy or stony, free-draining soil. Ensure soil is never waterlogged as they hate having their roots sitting in water.
Care – they are happy in dry soil so need little watering. Take care you don’t overwater them. Cut the flower stalks off at their base once flowers have faded. Remove any straggly stems in spring. You may need to replace plants that have become ‘leggy’ or sparse with exposed bare woody stems with fresh young plants after several years.
