Salvia jamensis Melen

<strong>Sages</strong> are plants that offer decorative flowering, usually in spikes, and aromatic foliage. The most well-known is common sage, <em>Salvia officinalis</em>, valued for its numerous benefits. It is used in cooking to flavour dishes, as well as in herbal tea or infusion. There are also a multitude of ornamental sage varieties whose colours declinate into beautiful shades: we appreciate the blue-violet flowers of <em>Salvia nemorosa</em> for their intensity, and the red flowers of <em>Salvia microphylla</em> for their vibrant hue... not to mention other varieties in white, pink, or yellow tones... The choice is vast, and you will easily find flowerings that you like. Sages are also excellent melliferous plants, attracting bees to the garden! But their ornamental interest is not limited to their flowering: the foliage is also very decorative, although it varies greatly from one species to another, both in colour and texture. The leaves are often villous or pubescent, making them quite soft to the touch. They are sometimes green, but can also be silver, purple, or blue. There are even varieties with golden leaves! Sages are easy to cultivate. They thrive in full sun, in well-draining, even poor soil. They are very resilient, their only fear seems to be excess moisture. As for maintenance, sage mainly requires pruning at the end of winter and in summer. It is advisable to cut off faded flowers to prolong flowering. And if you wish to propagate it, making cuttings is easy!