Anise scented sage is a perennial subshrub from South America, grown for its blue flowers, anise-scented leaves and appeal to hummingbirds. It grows best in full sun or light shade in well-drained soil, and spreads into a large patch over time.
Family
Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then let the top of the soil dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained garden soil or a standard potting mix.
Temperature
15–30 °C; protect below 0 °C, as it is hardy only in mild climates.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Brazil to N. Argentina
Climate
subtropical
About
Salvia guaranitica, the anise-scented sage or hummingbird sage, is a species of flowering plant in the sage family, Lamiaceae, native to a wide area of South America, including Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. It is cultivated all over the world, and is naturalized in New Zealand and Chile.
How to grow it
Salvia guaranitica is a popular ornamental plant in mild areas. It grows in either full or three quarter sunlight, in well-draining soil. Numerous cultivars have been selected, including 'Argentine Skies' (pale blue flowers), 'Black and Blue' (very dark violet blue calyx), 'Blue Ensign' (large blue flowers), and 'Purple Splendor' (Light purple flowers).
The cultivar 'Blue Enigma', with pure blue flowers, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Salvia guaranitica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.