NICE! Plant of the Month
(Salvia roemeriana)
Description:
A great shade plant, named because it can also be found growing in the dense shade of Ashe junipers (mountain cedars). It also grows under oaks and mountain laurels. A small plant and well behaved, with little furry round or heart-shaped leaves with scalloped margins. Makes a wonderful ground cover with brilliant red-spiked flowers lasting 4-6 weeks. Flowers are 1- to 2-inch spikes from March to August. Usually grows 1 to 2 feet tall. Native to the Edwards Plateau, Trans-Pecos Mexico.
Deer Resistance:
Observed heavily eaten under pressure.
Planting Sites:
Plant on well-drained sites in shade, part shade, or dappled shade. Soil may be sand, loam, clay, limestone.
Planting Instructions:
Dig hole at least 2 times wider, but the same depth as the root ball in the nursery container. Carefully remove plant from container, taking care not to break the root ball. Loosen exterior roots, if root bound. Plant at a depth equal to thickness of the soil in the container. Do not add any soil to the top of the root ball. Adding a layer of 3-4 inches of mulch after planting is desirable. Space plants 1 foot apart.
Watering Instructions:
Water in well after planting, using root stimulator according to directions. Water deeply every 7-10 days, checking an inch or two into soil at edge of root ball to determine soil moisture. Skip a watering after a rainfall of ½ to 1.
First fall/winter:
Maintain this watering schedule until the first fall after planting. Reduce water during fall and winter. In a “normal” year, no watering may be necessary in fall and winter, but during a dry period, monthly watering may be desirable.
Second spring and thereafter:
Water monthly only in periods of drought. Once established, cedar sage will survive with little supplemental irrigation.
Other care:
To maintain as a thick ground cover, allow seeds to ripen and scatter, and then water it periodically.
NICE! Tip:
Plant cedar sage in place of periwinkle (Vinca major).
Look for the NICE! Plant of the Month signs and information sheets on your next visit to a participating Boerne nursery. And thank you for supporting native plants by using them in your landscapes.
