Salvia pratensis Twilight Serenade - Meadow Sage

The Salvia pratensis 'Twilight Serenade' is a variety of meadow sage that is interesting for its long summer flowering of deep blue-violet colour. It is an extremely floriferous perennial, with floral spikes that renew throughout the summer, above a densely leafy clump. Resistant to cold, not very water-demanding, and tolerant of clayey and limestone soils, this plant is one of the easiest plants to successfully grow. This robust plant from fields and the moving garden excels in flower beds or borders, in full sun or partial shade.

Native to Western Europe to the Caucasus, meadow sage, Salvia pratensis, is a hardy herbaceous perennial that tolerates sun and drying soils. The 'Twilight Serenade' variety, introduced in Germany in 2008, is distinguished by its abundant brightly coloured flowering. Its foliage is semi-evergreen in winter, forming clumps that can cover 80 cm (32in) in diameter. This medium-sized variety produces multiflorous inflorescences, carried up to 50 cm (20in) in height, adorned with intense blue-violet flowers with long tubes and two lips. The flowers bloom from June and continue without interruption until August if the soil remains slightly moist; they are highly prized by butterflies and bees. The leaves are oval to oblong, rough and plicate, slightly wavy, with crenate edges, of variable size, mainly organized in basal rosettes. Some rare small leaves are located on the square section floral stems.

The 'Twilight Serenade' meadow sage is vigorous enough to outcompete weeds. Just like its blue ancestor, it excels on slopes that it helps maintain with its deeply anchored roots, allowing it to draw in freshness even during heatwaves. In this regard, it will be perfect for maintaining the soil in rockeries or banks near water sources. It is a very resistant plant, tolerating prolonged periods of drought and spartan growing conditions. It tolerates limestone well, even growing on chalky hillsides, and endures harsh winters without weakening. In flower beds, associate this pretty wildflower with its cousins the clary sage and the common sage, with small grasses, blue baptisias, Nepeta x faassenii, lychnis coronaria, grahamii red bush sage, with fuchsia pink flowers.

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