Salvia miltiorrhiza (also known as sage) is a group of diversified plants, which can produce colorful flowers, smells, and even tastes. Some also have beautiful leaves. Most of them are easy to plant, drought resistant, flowering rich, and look beautiful in the landscape. Use this guide to find the best type of salvia miltiorrhiza for planting in your garden. The following content also has some reference value for raised garden beds.
1. Types of sage
According to the American Herbal Association, there are more than 900 different types of salvia miltiorrhiza. These include sage, a cooking herb used to flavor and decorate food. This kind of plant is perennial, and it will come back every year in its cold resistant place. There are also annual and biennial salvia miltiorrhiza, some of which are woody shrubs.
2. Blue Salvia miltiorrhiza
The favorite plant of many gardeners, blue salvia miltiorrhiza is an easy to plant perennial plant. It blooms all summer long and can endure drought. It is an excellent choice for borders and containers, and it is native to North America.
Blooming season: spring to frost
Light: sufficient sunlight to partial shadow
Water: Planted in uniformly moist soil with good drainage
Dimensions: Up to 3 feet
Area: 5-9
3. 'Black and blue' Salvia miltiorrhiza
Hummingbird magnet "Black and Blue" shows spikes of rich cobalt blue flowers, which emerge from purple black buds on dark stems. The leaves have a faint aroma of fennel. This perennial salvia miltiorrhiza is easy to plant, and will reward you with beautiful flowers year after year.
Blooming season: summer to autumn
Light: sufficient sunlight to partial shadow
Water: Planted in uniformly moist soil with good drainage
Dimensions: up to 5 feet
Area: 8-10
4. Salvia
This is not your ordinary saint. Salvia is a little different, because its color comes from its leafy bracts, which look like large pink, purple or white petals. The bracts of the biennial salvia miltiorrhiza are durable and dry well. It is a good cut flower and can be used for dry flower crafts.
Blooming season: summer
Light: sufficient sunlight
Water: planted in soil with medium water content and good drainage
Dimensions: Up to 3 feet
Area: 5-9
5. Cooking Sage
As a necessary plant in the herb garden, the cooking sage is characterized by beautiful silver gray leaves and spikes of lilac flowers in early summer. It is a key ingredient in many container garden combinations, Thanksgiving fillings and even some desserts. Although this plant is perennial, you will want to replace it in a few years because the stems will become woody and sparse.
Blooming season: summer
Light: sufficient sunlight
Water: Planted in dry to medium moisture, well drained soil
Dimensions: up to 2 feet
Area: 5-8
6. Salvia purpurea
Although it is not as delicious or cold resistant as its silvery gray cousin, purple sage provides more color in containers, beds and borders. Be sure to plant it where you can walk, and then brush the leaves to release its herbal rosin. The purplish oblong leaves have strong fragrance, which can be used fresh or dried for cooking.
Blooming season: spring
Light: sufficient sunlight
Water: Planted in dry to medium moisture, well drained soil
Dimensions: up to 2 feet
Area: 6-9
7. Variegated sage
This is another particularly attractive member of the Cooking Sages group. The characteristic of the variegated sage is that the gray green leaves are irregularly inlaid in the yellow green. It has purple blue flowers on its spikes in late spring. Whether you plant it for its ornamental or flavor, it can easily be planted together with other perennial plants in the border or rock garden.
Flowering season: late spring
Light: sufficient sunlight
Water: Planted in dry to medium moisture, well drained soil
Dimensions: up to 2 feet
Area: 4-8
8. Salvia tricolor
It grows mainly because of its leaves, and the tricolor combines the best features of other saints. It shows silver green leaves with milky white edges and purple. In addition to its excellent ornamental value, it can also be fresh or dried for cooking as a condiment. This is an excellent choice for growing as an annual plant in containers, especially in northern areas.
Flowering season: early spring
Light: sufficient sunlight
Water: Planted in dry to medium moisture, well drained soil
Size: Up to 18 inches
Area: 6-9
9. Red Salvia Miltiorrhiza
Red salvia miltiorrhiza has become an annual popular variety due to its striking color and is easy to plant. Like most other sage, it provides scented leaves, so deer and rabbits usually do not touch it. This plant is usually called scarlet sage. It blooms all summer and is very suitable for use as a container.
Blooming season: spring to autumn
Light: sufficient sunlight to partial shadow
Water: Planted in uniformly moist soil with good drainage
Dimensions: up to 2 feet
Area: 10-11
10. 'Victoria Blue' Salvia Miltiorrhiza
"Victoria Blue" is an outstanding variety developed in 1978, and it is very popular because it is very suitable for cutting durable flowers. These salvia miltiorrhiza varieties are more tolerant to partial shading than most varieties. This variety will help you attract butterflies to your garden.
Blooming season: spring to autumn
Light: sufficient sunlight to partial shadow
Water: Planting in average, uniformly wet and well drained soil
Dimensions: up to 2 feet
Area: 8-10
11. 'Ciyun' Salvia miltiorrhiza
'Cirrus' is a pleasant choice, with spikes of pure white flowers throughout summer and autumn. Like other forms of blue salvia miltiorrhiza, it shines with silver leaves and adapts to different soil types. This is a good choice of cut flowers, and it complements the choice of dark blue flowers.
Blooming season: spring to autumn
Light: sufficient sunlight to partial shadow
Water: Planting in average, uniformly wet and well drained soil
Dimensions: up to 20 inches
Area: 8-10
12. 'Evolution' Salvia miltiorrhiza
The amazing variety "Evolution" won the National Select Award for its large number of deep violet purple flowers from summer to autumn. It is more compact than many other types of blue salvia miltiorrhiza and produces more spikes. Use this plant to expand your garden's color mix because its flowers are several degrees lighter than other blue sage.
Blooming season: early summer to autumn
Light: sufficient sunlight
Water: planted in well drained soil
Dimensions: Up to 16 inches
Area: 8-10
