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Prairie Salvia

Salvia azurea

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per Plant - 2.5" Pot
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ZONES  5-9 | Good to grow! Zone
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Salvia azurea (Prairie Sage) has superb, clear blue flowers on tall willowy stems. This deep-rooted wildflower blooms in late summer and it highly attractive to bumblebees and hummingbirds. Drought tolerant plant (xeric).
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Description

36-40" tall x 15" wide (seed/cutting propagated). This is an unusually xeric, clear blue colored form of the lovely Prairie Sage grown from seed I collected from a patch of short grass prairie just east of Santa Fe, NM. The flowers of this collection are as blue as the NM sky on a September afternoon. These plants are strong stemmed, upright growers that flower for over a month beginning in late summer through early fall and are found growing in alkaline clay-loam. Pair it up with Zauschneria arizonica for an extended display of fall color.

Planting & Care

Tips For Growing Salvia

Salvia (commonly referred to as ‘Sage’) represent a huge family of ornamental plants that attract a variety of pollinators to their nectar rich flowers. They are resistant to deer and rabbits.

  1. Plant in full sun.
  2. Plant native Western Salvia varieties in soil that is low fertility and well-drained.
  3. Plant Old World Salvia in a wide range of soils (loams, sand) including clay.
  4. Many spring-flowering varieties of sage will re-bloom in fall if deadheaded after the first bloom.
  5. New transplants need regular irrigation their first growing season to establish themselves. Once established they will need regular, deep irrigation during hot, dry weather.
  6. During fall garden clean-up, wait to cut back the plants until spring for improved cold hardiness.
  7. In colder USDA zones (zone 6 and below) it is essential to give Native Southwestern and Southwestern hybrids protection from the extreme cold their first couple winters in the garden. Mound up pine needles or fallen autumn leaves over and around the base of the plant.

Western Native Salvia: : It is from the Western US that we find our most beautiful native salvia species. For attracting hummingbirds, there are no finer flowers than the Western native sages. Typically, this group of Salvia prefer ‘lean’ (not very fertile), well drained soils. They will grow in dry clay conditions in arid climates but will rot out in clay soils where there is more than about 15 to 18” of precipitation annually.

Western Salvia include:

  • Salvia greggii - ‘Furman’s Red’, ‘Cold Hardy Pink’
  • Salvia hybrids - ‘Maraschino’, ‘Raspberry Delight’, ‘Ultra Violet’ and ‘Burgundy Seduction’.
  • Salvia pachyphylla and Salvia dorrii is recommended for arid western gardens.
  • Salvia azurea and Salvia reptans - Early fall bloomers with excellent cold hardiness.

To get established in USDA zones 5 & 6, Western Salvia (noted above) must be planted in spring or early summer, not in the fall. Protect your new plants over their first winter or two in your garden. Cover each plant with a generous pile of clean straw or pine needles. This allows the plant's crown (junction of root and branches) to mature and obtain maximum cold hardiness.

Old Wolrd Salvia: The Old World Salvia include some of the very best, most durable, longest-lived perennials. These salvia are an excellent choice for gardeners across most of the United States. ‘Old World’ Sages bloom primarily in shades of blue, pink and white. They are well adapted to cold climates and a wide range of soils including clay. The European Salvia are incredibly attractive to honey bees, many of our native bees and bumble bees as well as butterflies.

Old World varieties include:

  • Salvia syslvestris'Lyrical Rose', 'May Night', 'Little Night', 'Caradonna' and 'Marcus'.
  • Salvia daghestanica
  • Salvia verticiliata

More in-depth guidance for growing Salvia:Planting Nectar Rich Salvia to Attract Pollinators to the Garden

Shipping

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As soon as your order is placed you will receive a confirmation email. You will receive a second email the day your order ships telling you how it has been sent. Some perennials are shipped as potted plants, some as perennial roots packed in peat.  The ‘Plant Information’ section describes how that item will ship. All perennials and fall-planted bulbs are packaged to withstand shipping and are fully-guaranteed. Please open upon receipt and follow the instructions included.

Perennials and fall-planted bulbs are shipped at the proper planting time for your Growing Zone. Perennial and fall-planted bulb orders will arrive separately from seeds. If your order requires more than one shipment and all items are shipping to the same address, there is no additional shipping charge. See our shipping information page for approximate ship dates and more detailed information. If you have any questions, please call Customer Service at (801) 769-0300 or contact us by email or chat.

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Key Features

Light Requirements

  • Full Sun

Water Tolerance

Low-Water

Bloom Time

Mid summer to fall

Advantages

  • Bee Friendly
  • Attracts Butterflies
  • Native
  • Fragrant
  • Deer Resistant
  • Rabbit Resistant

Additional information

Mature Height

36-40" tall

Mature Spread

15" wide

Soil Type

  • Average Soil
  • Sandy Soil
  • Clay Soil

Soil Moisture

  • Waterwise

Planting Time

  • Fall

Special Groups

  • High Country Gardens Introduction

Native To

North America

Growing Zones

  • Zone 5
  • Zone 6
  • Zone 7
  • Zone 8
  • Zone 9

Neonicotinoid Free

Yes

Can Send To PO Box

No
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Overall rating: 4.75 / 5 from 12 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

Summary topics

Review topics: ["plant","flowers","deer","addition","growing","fall","hardy","foliage"].

Review highlights

Reviews

Would recommend to anyone

"Love all the plants, salvias & asters I bought from High Country Gardens. Packaged well, excellent root growth. Mine are growing & blooming already, within 2 weeks, in my zone 7 area. I hv to look for things deer do not love."

— Plays L. (5/5)

Quite a surprise!

"I specifically ordered this plant last summer because of its blue color in the website photo. When I placed an archway in my blue garden for a clematis to grow on, I also planted this salvia on the opposite side because I knew it would get tall. The plant is well over 6' tall and I've tied it to the archway due to strong winds. I'm delighted with the number of flowers coming on just in the past few days, but it looks like flower stems are coming on down the entire plant. I would recommend staking your plant as soon as possible so that it grows upright and straight. If the plant is not put in the back of the garden, I would suggest planting a companion at its base to cover the 12-15"" tall of woody base. My only negative comment is that the blue is not as vivid as in the website photo, but very pretty. A very nice addition to my blue garden!"

— Rebecca I. (5/5)

6714 Gude Ave

"This is a tall sage with wavy stems, gray-green foliage and nice blue flowers in late summer and fall. Mine is a bit wild looking. I stake it up late in the season to keep the stems from breaking off. Good for the back of the border. Bumble bees love it and hummingbirds come to it. But my favorite thing is that the deer shy away from it and won't walk down the path where I planted it, perhaps because the foliage has a strong sage smell. I plan to plant more in areas where deer come into my yard to see if it helps discourage them. Deer don't usually eat salvias, but this particular one seems to be especially stinky to them and, since it is tall, it is right under their noses."

— SH (4/5)

No email confirming shipment

"I never received a confirmation email that my plants shipped. Needless to say, when I finally went to the mailbox, I found my plants had been sitting in a parcel locker probably for days. One of the plants was half dead, the other two don't look so great. I planted them anyway but I don't have high hopes for them."

— Lisa (3/5)

Bees love this!

"The bees love this plant. The flowers are a gorgeous shade of blue. I liked it so much I purchased two more for my garden."

— Janeleslie (5/5)

A Blue Beacon of Late Summer Gardens

"I planted these late last fall, it was a colder than usual winter with low temps of -26°F for three straight nights. Despite fall planting, they all overwintered! Definitely the most cold hardy of perennial North American salvias. Very cold hardy, very heat tolerant, tolerant of dry soils, tolerant of flooding, and the beautiful sky blue flowers are unmatched in the late season garden. If you're anywhere close to where this plant grows natively and you're not growing this… you're missing out!"

— Oscarflip (5/5)

Beautiful Fall Bloomer

"I planted 2 of these last Fall and they grew great for me. I do recommend planting in mostly sunny area to keep flower spikes upright but one of mine is growing very well in a shaded area but the flower spike gets floppy. Beautiful blue flowers that flower heavy in Fall. Was a nice addition to Fall color in my perennial beds."

— Corgi G. (5/5)

I have bought this again and again

"Love this salvia - I have struggled with all the pink salvia I have tried, but the prairie sage is tough enough to survive Colorado's extreme climate fluctuations"

— MelB (5/5)

Very pretty, heat tolerant plant

"I thought I was going to end up killing this plant because I had bought a flame acanthus and cigar plant from a different website, and within two weeks of transplanting them they were all dry and shriveled up. To my surprise this prairie sage thrived and blossomed pretty blue flowers. This all happened last year, I also live in Texas, and this year the temperature has been at or over 100°F for the past two weeks. This plant is still is still thriving in this harsh heat! So I definitely love this plant because it's very low maintenance, I only water it once every two days, heat resistant, and blooms nice flowers."

— Willis (5/5)

still alive

"waiting to see how it handles a north eastern winter"

— Trilliums (5/5)

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