Salvia farinacea Mystic Spires Blue Improved

The Mystic Spires Blue hybrid sage is an improved variety with a modest stature that blooms continuously from late spring until the first frost. A tender perennial plant, it is grown as an annual in our climates. Adorned with beautiful spikes of intensely blue-violet flowers for months, it is perfect for flower beds, containers, and planters. Plant it in a sunny spot in rich, moist soil. It looks stunning when planted in groups among perennials and complements all its neighbours!

The Mystic Spire Blue sage is derived, among others, from Salvia farinacea, a perennial plant native to Texas and Mexico in the mint family. Its low hardiness and rapid growth make it an excellent annual in most of our climates. This 'Mystic Spires Blue' cultivar has a compact and bushy habit, forming clumps that are 50 cm (20in) tall and 40 cm (16in) wide. This vigorous small sage produces sturdy stems covered with slightly toothed, slightly aromatic dark green leaves. From June to October, dense upright spikes of intensely blue-violet flowers appear at the ends of the stems.

The 'Mystic Spires Blue' sage, perfect in flower pots, will also look beautiful in flower beds when paired, for example, with groundcover or miniature roses, marigolds, a sowing of borage, or dwarf rudbeckias. It can also be combined with grasses, gauras, and shrubby salvias with fuchsia flowers, or emerge from the silver foliage of shrubby wormwoods. This plant also forms lovely borders along pathways, and can be planted alongside silver mound (Cerastium tomentosum) which will carpet its base in a soft harmony of muted tones. Its bushy habit makes it ideal for filling beautiful flower pots, along with pink calibrachoas or bacopas. Its flower spikes hold up well in a vase.

With over 900 species of annuals, perennials, and softwood shrubs distributed worldwide, except in very cold regions and the tropical forest, the Salvia genus is the most diverse in the mint family.

Note: Please be aware that our young plug plants are professional products intended for experienced gardeners. Upon receipt, transplant and store them in a sheltered location (veranda, greenhouse, cold frame...) at a temperature above 14°C (57.2°F) for a few weeks before planting them outdoors once the risk of frost is definitively eliminated.