Plant of the Month – May 2014
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White Sage provides striking silver foliage all year, with aromatic leaves and tall spikes of flowers in spring.
White Sage
Salvia apiana
- Plant Form: Evergreen Shrub
- Water Use: Very Low
- Mature Size: 2-3’ tall x 3-6’ wide (flower stalks add another 2-6’ in height)
- Exposure: Full Sun
- Bloom Time: Spring (April – June)
- Native to: California to Baja California (below 4,500 feet)
- Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 15°F
White sage is an aromatic, slow-growing, evergreen shrub prized for a variety of qualities. Gardeners treasure this drought-tolerant native for its beautiful white foliage, almost luminous in the early evening and on moonlight nights. Bees love this prolific bloomer, and make a flavorful honey from its white to lavender-tinged flowers. California Indians revere this shrub as sacred, burning its leaves as incense during purification and other sacred ceremonies. In spring, tall flower stalks grow rapidly. Trim back these stalks when they dry to tan in late summer to keep plants from becoming leggy, and to prevent wind damage. This shrub is virtually pest free. Its hollow stems break easily, so place it where hoses or passers-by won’t hit it. White sage makes a striking focal point in a border, and is valuable massed on slopes to deter erosion.
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