For some people, the holidays simply wouldn’t be right without the traditional sage filling. Although we know the most culinary sage plants, there are many different types of sage. Some types of sage plants also have medicinal properties or are grown solely for ornamental purposes. Read on to find out about sage plant varieties and their uses.
Types of sage plants
There are many different types of sage or salvia plants. They may be perennials or annuals, blooming without blooming, but pretty much each of these different types of sage is pretty tough.
The foliage comes in sage green, purple/iridescent green, or iridescent gold, and blooms range from lavender to light blue to cheerful red. With so many types of sage, there is probably variety to your landscape.
Sage or garden sage is the most common type of sage used in cooking. Tea can also be made from the leaves. It’s very tough and bounces back in spring even after a very cold winter. This particular sage has soft silvery green leaves that can be used fresh or dried. It is also known to attract beneficial insects, attracted to its blue-purple flowers.
Although hard, garden sage often becomes too woody after a few years to produce many aromatic leaves, so it should be replaced every 3-4 years
Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) is a perennial flowering sage with tubular red flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Today, this beauty grows mainly as an ornamental ornament, but it is also said to have medicinal uses.
Grape-scented sage does not smell grapes, but more like paresia. It can be quite high (8 – 6 meters or 2 – 2.5 meters). It is a late flowering plant that attracts hummingbirds. The leaves and flowers can be soaked for making tea.
Crimson sage
. It is a perennial plant that thrives in full sun but withstands partial shade in well-drained soil with consistent watering. The bloom is crimson in color and lasts from late spring to the first frost.
It is usually annual in most areas. It reaches a height of 2–3 meters (0.5–1 m) and is dotted with spikes of blue, purple or white flowers. Some newer varieties to look for are ‘Empire Purple’, ‘Layers’ and ‘Victoria’s
Egyptian Sage
Egyptian Sage – A desert shrub, very branched, gray, low and 20 to 30 cm tall, the petals are about 6 mm small, lilac or light blue in color. The stems are covered with short hairs. The leaves are simple, small and elongated, 1 to 3 cm long and up to 1 cm wide. Their lip is creaked or wavy and their upper side is stuttered. The remaining cup, 5 to 7 mm long, is borne on a bent stem, and is covered with long, but shorter than desert sage, glandular hairs.
The upper lip of the petal is erect, split into two lobes and the stamens are not hidden beneath it. The lower lip is dotted at its base with dark dots. Egyptian sage grows in gorges and swallows in warm deserts in the northern and western Negev , in the Judean Desert and Samaria Desert and even in the Arava, and even in the coastal plain and even in the Jordan Valley. Flowering takes place between January and April and peaks in March.