By Bill Ward
Published in The Boerne Star on March 18, 2003
Perhaps the most intriguing genus of native plant I’ve learned about since joining the Native Plant Society of Texas is Salvia. I admit I’ve become a salvia junky.
There seems to be a salvia to fit any garden, shady or sunny. They bloom in many colors, and there are species for nearly all seasons. Salvias are easy to grow, and many are not appetizing to deer.
Salvias are commonly known as “sages.” No, not “The sage in bloom is like perfume; deep in the heart of Texas.” That probably refers to cenizo Leucophyllum sp. or maybe sagebrush Artemisia sp.
Salvias are plants such as indigo spires, Mexican bush sage, mealy sage, and tropical sage. But not Russian sage Perovskia atripliciforma; that is neither a sage nor Russian.
This genus got its common name “sage” from the Mediterranean herb Salvia officinalis, know the world over for its medicinal and culinary values.
Salvias are members of the mint family. They have opposite leaves and square stems (sometimes rounding with age). The petals form tubular flowers terminating with two lips of unequal size. Lower lips are spreading in most salvias, while upper lips have various shapes according to the species.
There are several salvias native to the Edwards Plateau. The one most extensively used in landscaping is Salvia greggi, and nearly everyone calls it by its scientific name.
I’ve seen S. greggi in the wild in Texas only once, on the western edge of the Edwards Plateau at Kickapoo Cavern State Park near Brackettville. This plant is known as autumn sage, but it blooms nearly all year, from spring until the first winter freeze.
There are natural varieties that bloom red, pink, and white, and the nursery industry developed cultivars that flower in many bright shades of red and pink. It grows into a small woody bush that does well in part shade to full sun. In this area, S. greggi usually is winter-hardy and keeps its leaves during hard freezes.
Salvias that are native to the Boerne area generally die back to their root stock during hard freezes, but re-sprout when warmer weather returns.
Cedar sage (S. roemeriana) is found in shaded woods and rocky canyons in this part of the Hill Country. It has deep-red flowers in spring and summer and does well in shady yards. Another red-blooming native found in this area is tropical sage or scarlet sage (S. coccinea).
In the garden it tolerates dappled shade to full sun. It is drought-resistant and usually winter-tolerant. In good soils it tends to multiply too fast to suit many gardeners.
Another red-blooming salvia is big red sage (S. penstemonoides).
This salvia was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered along Frederick Creek in Boerne in 1987, when Marshall Enquist was taking photographs for his book on Hill Country wildflowers (Dan Hosage says he’s known it was there for a long time).
This rare population of big red sage has been monitored for many years by Mary Kennedy and her TMI students. Some of their research led to national Science Fair awards.
Many salvias have blue flowers. One local blue salvia that does well as a landscape plant is mealy sage (S. farinacea). It blooms in the spring and sometimes again in the fall. Another is giant blue sage (salvia azurea), a fall bloomer.
One of my favorite salvias is mountain sage (S. regla), which is native to mountains of Big Bend and notheeastern Mexico. The orange-red flowers of S. regla growing among the orange-red branches of the Texas madrone trees are well worth a fall visit to the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend Park. Mountain sage is a hardy landscape plant in our area.
The mountains of northeastern Mexico give us many colorful salvias, even a yellow one (S. madrensis). This late-fall bloomer is starting to show up in gardens in and around Boerne.
Manual Flores, horticulturist and radio personality, will speak on salvias at the April 1 meeting of the Boerne Chapter, NPSOT. Meeting time is 6:30 p.m. at Cibolo Nature Center. All visitors are welcome.
