Common Name: Mexican bush sage
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Lamiaceae
Native Range: Mexico and tropical Americas
Zone: 8 to 10
Height: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 3.00 feet
Bloom Time: August to frost
Bloom Description: White with purple calyx
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Annual
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Hummingbirds, Butterflies
Tolerate: Deer
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
Salvia leucantha, commonly called 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.
The genus name Salvia comes from the Latin word salveo meaning "to save or heal", in reference to the purported medically curative properties attributed to some plants in the genus.
Specific epithet means white-flowered.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Borders, bedding. Containers.