Salvia Planting Guide

A Secret Your Grandma Knew

Saliva, or flowering sage, are plants that have grace gardens for years. And for good reason. These are easy care sources of rich blue and blue-purple spiky flowers for the middle and front of mixed perennial borders, country style gardens and rock gardens. Do you snip frequently and bring bits of your garden inside? Salvia stems are wonderful summer bouquets elements, for their deep color and strong linear form.

Able to thrive in low moisture sites and unpalatable to rabbits, deer and even elk (and you thought deer were a challenge!), salvia encourage the presence of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds in your garden. So they help attract the good guys and discourage the less desirable ones.

Salvias partner well with daylilies, perennial geraniums, phlox and coreopsis.

Outdoor Beds

1. Find a location where the soil drains well. If there are still water puddles 5-6 hours after a hard rain, scout out another site. Or amend the soil with generous additions of peat moss or perlite to improve the drainage. Salvia prefer soils that provide average to modest moisture, but are not water logged. 

2. Site your plants where they will receive full sun. Very light shade is also fine in regions where the sun is especially strong.

3. Your plants will be shipped "bareroot." This just means that the soil has been washed from the roots, so you won't risk introducing any soil-borne diseases into your garden, and the plant is lighter and cleaner to ship. Bareroot plants are easy to handle and settle in quickly. Tuck your salvia into the ground with the roots pointing downwards and fanned out. Place the growing points at soil level. Situate East Friesland and May Night salvia plants about 12-16" apart, dwarf Marcus about 12" apart and Purple Rain, which grows larger, 18-24" apart.

4. After planting, water generously, soaking the soil. Root and top growth will develop quickly and you'll likely see new leaves beginning to form in two to three weeks. Speed of growth is dependent on soil and air temperature; the warmer the temperature, the faster the growth.

5. Water periodically during the growing season if rain does not occur, but keep in mind that weekly deep waterings are better than lighter drinks every day or two. Should your plants begin to get leggy midseason, feel free to trim them by half. (There's no special science to this - just get out your pruners and start snipping.) For Purple Rain, deadheading the first flush of flowers encourages a fuller second bloom later in the season.

6. In late fall, your salvia foliage will fade and wilt with the onset of colder nights. At this point you may clip the stems to within 3-4" of the ground with the knowledge that next spring will bring fresh growth.

7. Hardy salvia plants grow larger over time, developing into clumps. These clumps may be divided by slicing them in half vertically with a sharp shovel and the pieces can be replanted or shared with gardening friends. Divide in the fall every few years, if you like.

Big Pots, Tubs & Urns

1. Select large containers, keeping in mind the mature size of hardy salvia. Fill your containers with well-drained, humus rich potting soil. Add peat moss or perlite to improve drainage, if needed. Make sure there are adequate drainage holes in your pots; salvia must never sit in waterlogged soil.

2. Site your plants where they will receive full sun. Very light shade is also fine in regions where the sun is especially strong.

3. Your plants will be shipped "bareroot." This just means that the soil has been washed from the roots, so you won't risk introducing any soil-borne diseases into your garden, and the plant is lighter and cleaner to ship. Bareroot plants are easy to handle and settle in quickly. Tuck your salvia into the ground with the roots pointing downwards and fanned out. Place the growing points at soil level. In containers plant snuggly: situate East Friesland and May Night plants about 12" apart, dwarf Marcus about 8" apart and Purple Rain, which grows larger, 15" apart.

4. After planting, water generously, soaking the soil. Root and top growth will develop quickly and you'll likely see new leaves beginning to form in two to three weeks. Speed of growth is dependent on soil and air temperature; the warmer the temperature, the faster the growth.

5. Water periodically during the growing season if rain does not occur, but keep in mind that weekly deep waterings are better than lighter drinks every day or two. Should your plants begin to get leggy midseason, feel free to trim them by half. (There's no special science to this - just get out your pruners and start snipping.) For Purple Rain, deadheading the first flush of flowers encourages a fuller second bloom later in the season.

6. In late fall, your salvia foliage will fade and wilt with the onset of colder nights. At this point you may clip the stems to within 3-4" of the ground with the knowledge that next spring will bring fresh growth.