Sage (culinary)

Sun

Full sun; light afternoon shade can help in very hot climates.

Water

Water regularly while establishing, then only during prolonged dry spells. Let the soil dry between waterings; winter wet is more damaging than summer drought.

Soil

Well-drained sandy, gravelly or loamy soil, preferably neutral to alkaline. Avoid waterlogged clay and heavily enriched soil.

Height

1-2.5 ft (0.3-0.75 m)

Spread

2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m)

Flowers

Late spring to early summer; violet-blue to mauve flowers in upright spikes.

Foliage

Opposite, oblong grey-green leaves with a softly hairy, wrinkled surface and a strong savoury scent. Evergreen in mild climates, but leaves may be damaged or shed in cold winters.

Growth

Moderate

Care needed

Low

• Water new plants when the root zone begins to dry; reduce watering once established.
• Use a pot with drainage holes and a gritty potting mix if your garden soil stays wet.
• Avoid rich feeding; a light spring feed is enough for container plants.
• Keep mulch away from the woody crown; gravel is useful around plants in damp climates.
• Harvest leafy shoots lightly in the first year and avoid heavy picking before winter.

Pruning. In spring, once new growth is visible, shorten stems to healthy leafy growth and remove dead wood; avoid cutting into bare old wood. Trim lightly after flowering to keep the plant compact, but avoid hard autumn pruning.

Spring

Prune winter damage back to healthy leafy shoots once growth resumes.

Spring

Plant in a sunny, freely draining position after severe frost has passed.

Late spring

Begin regular light harvesting, leaving plenty of foliage on each plant.

Summer

Leave some flowers for bees, then trim spent flower stems.

Summer

Take non-flowering softwood or semi-ripe cuttings to replace ageing plants.

Autumn

Reduce harvesting and clear fallen leaves away from the crown.

Winter

Check drainage and shelter containers from persistent rain without keeping the compost completely dry.

• Edge a kitchen garden or herb bed with low mounds of grey foliage.
• Combine with thyme, lavender and rosemary in a sunny gravel border with similar drainage needs.
• Use repeated plants beside a path, where their leaf texture contrasts with finer foliage.
• Grow in a container near the kitchen for convenient harvesting.

Garden styles it suits: Mediterranean, Potager (kitchen garden), Herb parterre, Cottage garden, Dry gravel garden and Sensory garden.

Plant it with: Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender, Oregano, Santolina and Yarrow.

Wildlife: Flowers provide nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinating insects. Leave some flowering stems unharvested.

• Root and crown rot in wet soil: improve drainage, keep the crown clear and replace badly affected plants in a drier position.
• Powdery mildew: provide full sun and air circulation, and remove badly affected leaves.
• Leafhoppers causing pale speckling: inspect leaf undersides; tolerate light damage and remove heavily affected shoots rather than routinely spraying an edible herb.
• Leggy, woody growth: prune lightly each spring and take cuttings to replace plants that no longer produce useful leafy growth.

Common sage is not known to be toxic to cats, dogs or horses. Its leaves and flowers are edible for people in normal culinary quantities. Concentrated sage essential oil and large medicinal doses are not equivalent to food use: thujone in the oil can cause serious poisoning, including seizures, in people and animals. Do not give the essential oil to pets.

• Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa)

  A larger shrub with similar woolly grey-green leaves, but its flowers are yellow and arranged in conspicuous whorls. It is not culinary sage.

• Russian sage (Salvia yangii)

  Has narrower, often deeply cut leaves and tall, airy sprays of small lavender-blue flowers rather than broad, wrinkled leaves and compact flower spikes.

Salvia comes from the Latin salvare, meaning to save or heal, while officinalis refers to the plant's historical use in apothecaries.

Propagation. Take softwood cuttings in late spring or semi-ripe cuttings in summer, or layer a low shoot. Sow seed in spring, but named cultivars may not come true from seed.

Accepted botanical name

Salvia officinalis

In the US and Canada

Introduced in the lower 48 states.

Native range

Albania, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.

Measured

Soil pH 7.5 to 8. Average height 51 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.