Mexican Sage

Mexican Sage 'Pumpkin' (Salvia 'Pumpkin') is a compact shrubby salvia to about 1m tall and 1m wide, carrying warm orange flowers over a long season. It grows quickly, asks for almost nothing once established and keeps bees, butterflies and small honeyeaters working the garden through the warm months. Planted 60cm apart it fills a border in a single season.

Why you'll love it

• Colour that keeps coming. Orange flower spikes appear over a long warm season rather than in one short burst, so the border stays lively.
• A magnet for wildlife. Bees and butterflies work the flowers all day and nectar feeding birds follow, which makes it useful as well as decorative.
• Fast to fill space. It reaches full size in a season, so a new bed does not sit half empty while you wait.
• Heat and drought tolerant. Once the roots are down it handles hot dry summers on very little water, which suits inland and Mediterranean gardens.

Where it works best

Borders and edging. Plant 60cm apart along a path or the front of a bed for a continuous run of foliage and flower at knee to waist height.

Mass planting. At the same 60cm spacing across a slope or a wide bed it knits into one block of colour and shades out weeds as it closes.

Pots and courtyards. A single plant suits a 40L pot in full sun, where the flowering is easy to see and easy to reach for cutting back.

Growing Mexican sage in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun and open air movement. It suits warm temperate, subtropical and Mediterranean gardens. It takes light frost only, so in cold inland or southern gardens expect it to be knocked back in winter and reshoot in spring, or grow it in a pot you can move to shelter.

Soil. Free draining soil matters more than fertility. Salvias rot in ground that stays wet through winter, so improve heavy clay with coarse compost and plant slightly proud of the surrounding level.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer to establish, then only in long dry spells. Keep feeding light: a single application of controlled release fertiliser in early spring is enough, and rich soil produces floppy growth that splays open in rain.

Pruning. This is the one job that matters. Trim spent flower stems through the season to keep new spikes coming, then cut the whole plant back by about a third in late winter to stop it going woody and bare at the base.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown as tube stock, which is a young rooted plant ready to go straight into the ground. Tubes are the sensible way to plant a border or a mass planting, because you can buy the numbers you need and they establish faster than larger pot sizes once the weather warms. Expect a quiet fortnight, then quick growth, with the first real flush of flower in the same warm season for spring plantings. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95, with a minimum order of $300 before delivery and our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse bee and butterfly plants
• Shop bird attracting plants
• Ideas for low growing border plants
• Compare low maintenance shrubs

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

60cm apart for a full border or mass planting. That spacing closes the gaps within a season without crowding the plants into competition.

Will it survive frost?

Light frost only. In cold districts the top growth is cut down and the plant usually reshoots from the base in spring, but a hard frosting winter can kill it outright.

Does it need cutting back?

Yes, and it repays it. A hard trim by about a third in late winter keeps the plant dense and flowering well instead of woody and sprawling.

How much water does it need?

Regular water through the first summer, then very little. It is genuinely drought tolerant once established and prefers to dry out between waterings.