Salvia greggii Icing Sugar

Salvia greggii 'Icing Sugar' is a delightful variety of shrubby sage. It is characterized by a rather stocky habit and, above all, by its bicolour flowering displaying two particularly pretty shades of pink, from late summer until the first frosts. Pretty purple flower buds give rise to delicate small fuchsia pink flowers, with a very tender pink lower lip. They shine in the sun and blend with a dark green and very aromatic evergreen foliage. This bushy perennial is moderately hardy, but is indifferent to summer heat and only requires a very well-drained, even poor and chalky soil, in a sunny or semi-shaded position.

Salvia greggii, also known as Texas Sage or White Sage, belongs to the family of Lamiaceae or Labiatae and is native to the Mexican mountains, as well as southern Arizona. The 'Icing Sugar' variety is a woody and branched perennial that has a bushy and spreading habit, as wide as it is tall. It will reach about 55 cm (22in) in all directions. The nectar-rich, honey-scented flowering is particularly generous, especially in autumn from September to November if the cold does not put an end to it. The small elongated flowers emerge from dark reddish-purple calyxes, grouped in spikes on purple and branched stems. They are barely more than 2 cm (1in) long, but their colour mixing two unprecedented shades of pink is particularly bright. They only live for a day, covering the ground with their petals in the evening, but will be replaced the next morning. The evergreen foliage is composed of very narrow leaves, 2 cm (1in) long, dark green to greyish, thick and aromatic, slightly sticky, releasing a strong fresh and tangy smell with heat. In case of intense drought, the plant may partially lose its leaves, without affecting its health. New buds will develop as soon as the rains return.

This moderately hardy (-10°C (14°F) in well-drained soil) shrubby sage will accompany the summer blue flowering of perennial geraniums 'Rozanne', Agastaches and perennial flaxes. But its association with autumn asters is fabulous: choose those that are content with little, such as Aster laevis, Aster turbinellus or Aster amellus for example. Gauras, tall sedums (Sedum 'Matrona'), shrubby potentillas and beautiful autumn foliage (Euonymus alatus 'Compactus', Nandina domestica 'Firepower', Miscanthus sinensis 'Afrika') will compose an elegant tableau with it. On the terrace, place it in a large pot, right next to an Imperata cylindrica 'red baron'; the contrast of colours and shapes is fantastic!

In Mexico, a delicious tea is prepared with the leaves of this sage, which is called "mountain myrtle" there.