Salvia horminum Claryssa Mixed - Painted Sage Seeds

This painted sage mix, also called Salvia horminum, or Salvia viridis var. comata Claryssa Mixed, is a true annual plant, native to the Mediterranean basin. This mix presents heavy blooming plants with a compact habit, whose upright stems bear small, little flowers arranged in clusters carrying large, highly decorative bracts that come in a range of very bright colours: white, purple or pink. Its foliage, like that of other sages, is hairy. They make perfect cut or dried flowers. They are also easy to grow, undemanding and relatively drought resistant. Sow directly in Spring.

Salvia viridis is an annual sage, also called painted sage, that belongs to the family Lamiaceae. It grows naturally in dry, arid areas around the Mediterranean. It has given rise to numerous cultivars, including 'Claryssa'. The plants of the 'Claryssa Mixed' selection quickly form 40 cm high mounds with an upright, bushy habit, that are sometimes branched at their base. They have oval or oblong, 5 cm long, hairy, finely crenate, dark green leaves. Flowering lasts about a month, from July to September, depending on the date of sowing. The white, purple or mauve flowers are quite small and are arranged in clusters in the shape of spikes. They are surrounded by large sterile bracts that are brightly coloured in shades of either white, purple or pink and are marked with even darker veins. These inflorescences are very melliferous and have the particularity of remaining ornamental once dry. 

Annual 'Claryssa Mixed' sage plants or one of the finest bedding plants there are, offering sumptuous spikes in the brightest of colours. Easy to grow, they are perfect for decorating beds or a terrace in no time. They can be sown directly, together with love-in-a-mist, cosmos, California poppies, for example, in order to quickly create a lovely rural setting. They are very useful in dried flower arrangements, accompanied by poppy fruits and sea lavender.