Salvia leucantha
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Tried and True Recommended by 1 Professional
Common Name: Mexican bush sage
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Lamiaceae
Zone: 8 to 10
Native Range: Mexico and tropical Americas
Height: 2 to 3 feet
Spread: 2 to 3 feet
Bloom Time: August to To frost
Bloom Color: Purple, White
Bloom Description: White with purple calyx
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Flowers: Showy Flowers
Wildlife: Attracts Hummingbirds, Attracts Butterflies
Tolerates: Deer
Uses: Suitable as Annual

Culture

Winter hardy to USDA Zones 8-10. In St. Louis, it is grown as an annual in average to rich, evenly moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates some light afternoon shade, but generally is best in full sun. Also tolerates some drought, but does best with regular moisture. Purchase plotted plants in spring or start seed indoors 6-8 weeks before last spring frost date. Set out seedlings or purchased plants after last spring frost date. Propagate by seed or by overwintering cuttings taken in late summer. In mild St. Louis winters, plants may survive outdoors if grown in protected locations, cut to the ground before first frost and given a good winter mulch.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Mexican bush sage is an evergreen shrubby perennial that is native to Central America and Mexico. In St. Louis, it is grown as an annual that typically rises 2-3’ tall in a single growing season. This sage is most noted for producing a very attractive late summer to frost bloom of showy bicolor flowers consisting of white corollas and longer-lasting funnel-form purple calyces. Flowers appear in dense, arching, terminal spikes (racemes to 10” long) that extend above the foliage. Flowers are attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. Linear, lance-shaped, gray-green leaves (to 4” long) are borne in pairs on square stems. Foliage has a velvet-like texture, hence the sometimes used common name of velvet sage for this species.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems.

Garden Uses

Borders, bedding. Containers.

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