By Grace Broyles
Big Country Master Gardener
I planted some pink Autumn Sage years ago, before I even knew its habits and ideal conditions, because of the beautiful color and its drought tolerance. Now I absolutely love its range of colors and its ability to enhance landscapes in all seasons. I also love how this plant works well as a companion plant to other plants in a landscape design, and the fact that the deer do not enjoy them.
The scientific name for Autumn Sage is Salvia greggii, in honor of Josiah Gregg, a merchant, explorer, naturalist, and author of Commerce of the Prairies, who lived in Tennessee from 1806 – 1850. He traveled to Texas in the 1940s to observe the geology, trees, prevalent attitudes and the politics of the state, and took notes of the plants he saw one summer and one winter in the Red River valley area, and from Galveston to Austin, and as he went on to Arkansas (by way of the Nacogdoches). He gathered specimens which included the salvia which he sent to botanist George Engelman in St. Louis. Over time, the name “greggii” was added to 23 species of plants in his honor.
Salvia greggii is a perennial shrub in the mint family, evergreen or semi-evergreen, depending on location and climate. It grows as a round shrub or herbaceous bush up to two to four feet wide and high with small very aromatic leaves. It’s tubular-shaped flowers range in color from red to white, even purple and orange, and grow along the leaf-covered branches–the more sun, the more flowers.
The shrub is naturally found in south central Texas and west Texas into Mexico, mostly on rocky slopes.
We plant lovers enjoy using Salvia greggii because it is such a resilient plant and it will survive with very little care happily providing color and aroma, and feeding the pollinators for most of the year. The new cultivars offer new color variations. One favorite is the Hot Lips, which is a red and white variety, with leaves that offer color variations as fall gives way to winter.
Varieties of Salvia greggii are offered for sale by many larger nurseries in Texas throughout the year. Texas Master Gardeners across the state offer varieties at their spring and fall plant sales.
The ideal time to plant this salvia is in the spring or fall, when the cooler temperatures allow it to grow a strong root system before the harsher temperatures arrive. But this salvia will allow for transplanting when necessary in the middle of summer, provided the soil it is planted in stays moist with mulching.
The plant enjoys soil that drains well after a rain, but then can withstand dry spells between rains or waterings, so the ideal location is on a slope or a bank. Salvias can be planted as a border or a hedge. They are ideal for butterfly gardens or in a children’s garden.
For landscapers planning a flower bed in front of a home, Salvia greggiis can be used as an accent plant with taller perennials behind them, such as the purple of the Duelberg Salvia and the bright greens of Burford Holly or Dwarf Yaupons. Spots for smaller annual plants can be saved for seasonal color to contrast or highlight the colors of the Salvia greggii.
Salvia greggii is easy to propagate from plant stems. A stem without flowers can be snipped from a healthy plant leaving only a couple of leaves on it. It then is placed in a small pot of potting soil and kept moist, covered with a plastic bag loosely secured, to provide humidity. The pot is placed in a bright location (not in full sun). It will produce roots within about three weeks or so. Then the plant can be placed in its more permanent home.
Trimming Salvia greggii is important as the plant will become leggy over time. An early trim should be done after the first flush of spring growth and flowering. Up to half the plant may be trimmed back to cause a more bushy shape. Later, in the fall, the plant may be trimmed to three or four inches above the ground. Periodic trimming of some branches may be needed throughout the growing season to keep plants looking tidy in the landscape.
For those of us who like a more relaxed-looking landscape, salvias may be left alone all growing season long, then trimmed low to the ground after winter is over, to start a new flush of growth with the warming temperatures. Before long, new flowers of bright hues will appear, the buzzing of native bees will be heard, and the flitting of butterflies will be seen among the salvia flowers.
BCMGA offers several education programs each month. There is a program at 6:00 p.m. on the 1st Tuesday of the month at the South Library Branch in the Mall of Abilene, and the same program is offered again at 10:00 a.m. on the 2nd Friday of the month at the Downtown Library. There is a Saturday Seminar on the last Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. at the Taylor County Extension Office Conference Room. Watch the BCMGA website and Facebook page for the topics and dates of these monthly programs.
If you have any questions, call the Taylor County Extension Office at 325-672-6048 or email us at mgardeners@yahoo.com. We hope you visit bcmgtx.org for information on all Big Country Master Gardener events, like us on BCMGA Facebook, and check out training presentations on BCMGA YouTube. We are here to help you.
