Super Tough Salvias

By Mandy Salm

Are you ready for tough? What plants can handle alkaline or clay soils, salt spray, no to little summer irrigation, are deer resistant and low maintenance while sporting fragrant foliage and flowers that are stunning and attract insects and birds? There are three hardy, native Salvias in my yard that meet these conditions and there is still time to plant them and get them established! The first two of these listed below make for good ground cover under oaks or shrubs and prefer shade inland, while the third can grow in just about any soil and loves the sun:
 

•  Salvia spathacea, or hummingbird sage, has large, slightly sticky medium green leaves to about one foot high with bracts of magenta flowers towering over the foliage. It flowers late winter into spring and spreads by rhizomes. It can grow on a bank or flat ground and performs well in dry shade. Although I have yet to make it, the California Native Plant Society blog has a recipe for hummingbird sage shortbread that uses the fragrant leaves!
• Salvia ‘Dara's Choice' is a hybrid between Salvia 'Dara's Choice.'Salvia 'Dara's Choice'Salvia mellifera and Salvia sonomensis. It also prefers light shade inland but full sun on the coast. Smaller greenish-gray foliage grows to about one foot high with blue violet flower stalks rising above. This spring flowering perennial can cascade down retaining walls or large pots and prefers good drainage.
• Growing to a height and width of 3'-4' and able to grow just about anywhere, Salvia ‘Pozo Blue' is a hybrid of Salvia leucophylla and Salvia clevelandii. This extremely hardy perennial has somewhat brittle branches with small light gray-green leaves and bracts of light periwinkle-colored flowers that are spectacular when planted in a large group, flowering through the summer. This plant is beloved by bees and hummingbirds alike.

These Salvias can be found at many of the local native plant nurseries. The California Native Plant Society website has links to local nurseries, arboretums and botanical gardens, and native plant sales. Although Salvias are usually remarkably easy to grow, if yours begins to display symptoms of pests or diseases, the UC Integrated Pest Management website has a discussion on common problems and how to treat them. Many a Master Gardener has written about the joy of gardening with Salvias. To read more, check out this post, this two-parter (Part 1, Part 2), or this post about water-wise Cleveland sage, another local and native Salvia.

Source: ucanr.edu