Salvia lanceolata

Sand Sage (Salvia lanceolata) is a South African sage that offers the combination most gardeners want and rarely get: grey green aromatic foliage, unusual dusky rose to terracotta flowers, and no real interest in being watered. It makes a rounded shrub about 1.2m tall and 1m wide. Honeyeaters work the flowers, and the leaves release their scent whenever you brush past.

Why you'll love it

• Flower colour you rarely see. The blooms sit between dusky rose and terracotta, warmer and softer than the usual blue and purple sages.
• Aromatic grey foliage. The leaves are scented and hold their soft grey green tone through the year, carrying the plant between flushes.
• Birds and pollinators. Tubular flowers suit honeyeaters, and bees and butterflies work them steadily.
• Drought, poor soil and salt. Once established it wants very little, and it is salt tolerant enough for an exposed seaside garden where softer shrubs burn.

Where it works best

Coastal gardens. Salt tolerance, drought tolerance and grey foliage put it squarely in the dune garden palette, and it holds up in wind and reflected heat.

Borders and mass planting. Plant 80cm apart for a full mass planting. At that spacing the shrubs touch without crowding, which matters for a plant that wants air movement around the base.

Feature planting. A single plant works as a soft grey full stop at the end of a bed, or repeated down a dry border for rhythm.

Growing Sand Sage in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun and open air. It suits Mediterranean, warm temperate, subtropical and arid gardens, so Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and inland dry districts all work. It takes light frost only, so hard frosting tableland and cold inland gardens will damage it. There, grow it in a pot against a warm wall, or choose a hardier sage.

Soil. Excellent drainage is not optional. Sand and gravel suit it perfectly, and poor soil is genuinely preferred to rich. On clay, plant on a raised mound and use a gravel mulch rather than bark.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then leave it alone except in long droughts. Overwatering is the most common cause of failure by a wide margin. If growth stalls, a light complete fertiliser in early spring is enough.

Pruning. Trim by about a third after the main flowering flush. Stay within the leafy growth: like most soft wooded sages it reshoots poorly from bare old wood, so a plant left to go woody is better replaced than cut hard.

What to expect when it arrives

Sand Sage is grown in tube stock, and it is currently listed on backorder, so check the product page for the next availability date. Tubes arrive as young rooted plants, usually 10 to 15cm of soft grey growth.

Salvias establish quickly from tubes, which is why they are worth buying small. Plant into prepared, free draining ground, water in once, then hold off until the soil has dried. Expect a shrub of useful size by the end of the second season. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• The best plants for coastal gardens.
• Browse coastal and salt tolerant plants.
• Bird attracting plants for a garden honeyeaters keep returning to.
• Drought tolerant plants for the rest of a low water bed.

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Eighty centimetres apart for a mass planting. For a single specimen give it a full metre of clear space, so air moves around the base and the shape stays even.

Will it survive frost?

Light frost only. A brief touch of cold does no lasting harm, but a hard frosting inland or tableland winter will cut it back or kill it. In those gardens grow it in a pot you can shelter.

Is it related to culinary sage?

Same genus, different species and a different continent. This one is South African and grown as an ornamental, so treat the aromatic foliage as a garden feature rather than a kitchen herb.