Salvia leucantha - MEXICAN BUSG SAGE
Dark purple fuzzy flowers, velvety foliage.
Robust, vigorous, flowers late in the season till frosts.
Heat and humidity tolerant and pollinator magnet!
Blooming time: August till frost
Size: 2-3' tall and wide, if grown as annual. Where it's winter hardy, can get to 6' of height and 5-6' of width
USDA Zones: 8 to 10 (hardy in zone 7a/7b, if kept dry in the winter and with heavier layer of mulch on the root system)
Culture: full sun to half shade, dappled sun - ideal is full sun. Adaptable and easy - any soil with some organic matter. Tolerant to heat and humidity, established plants tolerate droughts and drier conditions
Moisture Needs: average - medium to medium-dry
Origin: native to central and eastern Mexico (subtropical conifer forests)
Black Walnut Tolerant: yes
Deer/Rabbit Resistant: yes / yes - the whole plant is aromatic
Attracts Butterflies or Pollinators: yes/yes
Attracts Hummingbirds: yes
Pot Size: square 3.5" x 4" deep perennial pot
Plant Combinations: For sunny garden (public and private). Can be combined with plants that prefer somewhat drier conditions (and are drought tolerant). For natives choose shorter Agastache, shorter Amsonia, Asclepias, Baptisia, Campanula rotundifolia, Coreopsis, Eryngium juccifolium, Echinacea, Gaura, Liatris, Penstemons digitalis hybrids, Stokesia, Veronicastrum, Yucca, native grasses like Boutelloa, Muhlenbergia, Sporobolus, Panicum.
And with non-native perennials like Achillea, summer blooming Allium, Aquilegia, Aster, Calamintha, Eryngium, Geranium, Iris, Paeonia, Perovskia, Platycodon, other Salvia, Sedum, Stachys, taller Veronica and many others.
But it will also go well with plants that like more moisture = Iris sibirica, Leucanthemum x superbum, Hemerocallis (daylily), Hibiscus, Monarda, Phlox paniculata hybrids or Phlox carolina hybrids.
Pictures Copyright: Netherzone, Wikimedia Commons
Salvia leucantha - MEXICAN BUSG SAGE
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Dark purple fuzzy flowers, velvety foliage.
Robust, vigorous, flowers late in the season till frosts.
Heat and humidity tolerant and pollinator magnet!
Blooming time: August till frost
Size: 2-3' tall and wide, if grown as annual. Where it's winter hardy, can get to 6' of height and 5-6' of width
USDA Zones: 8 to 10 (hardy in zone 7a/7b, if kept dry in the winter and with heavier layer of mulch on the root system)
Culture: full sun to half shade, dappled sun - ideal is full sun. Adaptable and easy - any soil with some organic matter. Tolerant to heat and humidity, established plants tolerate droughts and drier conditions
Moisture Needs: average - medium to medium-dry
Origin: native to central and eastern Mexico (subtropical conifer forests)
Black Walnut Tolerant: yes
Deer/Rabbit Resistant: yes / yes - the whole plant is aromatic
Attracts Butterflies or Pollinators: yes/yes
Attracts Hummingbirds: yes
Pot Size: square 3.5" x 4" deep perennial pot
Plant Combinations: For sunny garden (public and private). Can be combined with plants that prefer somewhat drier conditions (and are drought tolerant). For natives choose shorter Agastache, shorter Amsonia, Asclepias, Baptisia, Campanula rotundifolia, Coreopsis, Eryngium juccifolium, Echinacea, Gaura, Liatris, Penstemons digitalis hybrids, Stokesia, Veronicastrum, Yucca, native grasses like Boutelloa, Muhlenbergia, Sporobolus, Panicum.
And with non-native perennials like Achillea, summer blooming Allium, Aquilegia, Aster, Calamintha, Eryngium, Geranium, Iris, Paeonia, Perovskia, Platycodon, other Salvia, Sedum, Stachys, taller Veronica and many others.
But it will also go well with plants that like more moisture = Iris sibirica, Leucanthemum x superbum, Hemerocallis (daylily), Hibiscus, Monarda, Phlox paniculata hybrids or Phlox carolina hybrids.
Pictures Copyright: Netherzone, Wikimedia Commons