Ornamental sage can be found more and more often in herbaceous beds. A distinction is made between annual and perennial species with a wide variety of colors that can be easily combined with other perennials. Both species can be easily propagated.
How to propagate ornamental sage?
Ornamental sage can be propagated by seeds or cuttings. Annual varieties are more likely to be grown from cuttings by cutting off unwoody shoots and placing them in potting soil. Seeds are sown in pots in spring and later planted outdoors.
What you need to know about ornamental sage
Ornamental sage likes to be protected from the wind in a sunny spot. The soil should be well-drained and nutrient-rich. Here it can wonderfully develop its violet, blue or even fiery red flowers. It becomes very attractive if the ornamental sage is accompanied by delicate white or pink bush florets.
It blooms continuously from May/June to September/October and forms a veritable carpet of flowers in the optimal location. The ornamental sage is a robust one, grateful ornamental plant that is not affected by diseases or pests.
Sage species
The following types of sage can be found in perennial gardens:
- the “Blue Hill”, flowers pure blue, grows to a height of 40 cm
- the “Amethyst”, flowers pink, has purple-violet stems, also grows to 40 cm high
- the “Caradonna”, flowers dark purple, grows to a height of 60 cm
Planting and propagation of ornamental sage
Ideally, you should plant the ornamental sage in early spring directly between other perennials or as a group in a separate bed. Since sage grows bushy, there should be enough space for the plants. Each perennial gets an extra planting hole, then soil mixed with compost is filled and watered.
Ornamental sage is propagated by seeds or cuttings. For annual varieties, it is easier to try propagation from cuttings. To do this, cut off 15 cm long, unwoody shoots from a strong mother plant, remove the lower leaves and put the shoot in a pot with good potting soil (€6.00 on Amazon). In a warm place and with regular watering, roots will develop until autumn. A winter-hardy variety of sage can then be planted outdoors. The non-frost-hardy varieties stay in a warm house throughout the winter and are only brought outdoors in spring.
The seeds of the ornamental sage are sown in suitable pots in February/March. The pots remain in the warm apartment or in the heated greenhouse. When the first one or two pairs of leaves have grown, the young plants can be transplanted individually into separate pots. When night frosts are no longer expected, around the beginning of May, the small sage plants are planted outdoors.
