Salvia pratensis Fashionista Vanity Flair - Meadow Sage

The Salvia pratensis 'Vanity Flair', with its light blue flowers, is part of a series of hybrids of the Meadow Sage, the Fashionista, selected in the U.S.A for their large, elegantly coloured flowers. It is an excellent perennial for the garden with the appearance of a charming weed and extremely floriferous in early summer. Robust and cold-resistant, it has a dense habit and numerous flowering stems emerging from a compact and densely leafy clump. It is a very easy plant to grow, ideal in borders or flower beds, in full sun or partial shade. 

Widespread from Western Europe to the Caucasus, the Meadow Sage is a perennial species, very hardy, that tolerates sun and dry soils. The 'Vanity Flair' variety has the same ease of cultivation, but its flowers are larger and a beautiful light blue-mauve colour. Its leafy stems form a clump that can measure 50 cm (20in) in diameter. The plant blooms from late May to July, depending on the climate. It produces numerous multiflorous spike inflorescences, carried at a height of 50 cm, with bilabiate flowers. They are highly prized by butterflies and bees. The leaves are ovate to oblong, rough, with crenate margins, forming a beautiful foliage. They are aromatic when crushed. It is a deciduous plant in winter, with new growth emerging from the ground in spring. 

The Vanity Flair Meadow Sage is vigorous enough to outcompete weeds. Just like its blue ancestor, it excels on slopes, which help to stabilise and anchor its deep roots, allowing it to draw moisture even during heatwaves. It is a very resistant plant, tolerating extended periods of drought and harsh growing conditions. It tolerates limestone well, even growing on chalky slopes, enduring harsh winters without weakening. In flower beds, associate it with clary sage, common sage, romantic roses, and Nepeta x faassenii, lychnis coronaria. 

With over 900 species of annuals, perennials, and soft-wooded shrubs distributed worldwide, except in very cold regions and tropical forests, the Salvia genus is the most diverse in the family of Lamiaceae. The name Salvia, which dates back to Roman times, derives from the Latin salvus 'healthy' referring to the medicinal properties of common sage.