Salvia azurea
Prairie sage, Pitcher sage
Also known as Salvia angustifolia (Mich.)
- Height × spread
- 1.6m × 1m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Flowers
- Summer, Autumn
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
A beautiful plant that has slender lance-shaped leaves coloured grey-green, downy to the touch. The plant sends up long slender flowering spikes with old brown calyces and small flowers coloured a clear and vivid blue. The combination of brown and blue tones is subtle and appealing. It flowers from late summer to autumn. This plant originates in the USA being found in the south-eastern as well as central areas. It needs a dry sheltered spot and survival is not guaranteed outdoors during winter, even in the mildest parts of the country. Its dramatic habit with slender piercing floral stems makes it a desirable asset in dry grass gardens.
- Flower colour
- Blue
- Foliage colour
- Grey
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Column
- Height
- 1.6m
- Spread
- 1m
- Height in 10 years
- 1.2m
- Spread in 10 years
- 0.8m
- Season of interest
- Summer, Autumn
- Flowers in
- Summer, Autumn
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Gravel garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun, tolerates part shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil
- Hardiness
- Cold to -15C (RHS H5)
- Borders & containers
- Borders and containers
- Use for
- Bee attraction, Sensory garden (tactile)
- Maintenance
- Easycare – low/no maintenance
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Spring - mid-late · Planting
Trim the plant
Trim the plant to give it a general tidy. This includes removing any lengthy or awkward shoots that make the plant look visually less attractive. Remove any spent flower heads at the same time.
Planting & general
Compost · Planting
Loam based compost + grit for repotting
Use a free draining loam based compost rather than one which has been modified to be 'moisture retentive'.
Alternatively prepare a compost using three parts of loam (John Innes no. 2 or 3) to one part of (horticultural) sand or fine (horticultural) grit.
Found in
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