Salvia pratensis Lyrical Blues - Meadow Sage

The Salvia pratensis 'Lyrical Blues' is a variety of meadow sage with a long harmonious flowering period, with indigo blue petals and burgundy calyxes. It forms a bushy clump of green-grey foliage and blooms densely from the beginning to the end of summer. Resistant to cold, not very water-hungry, and tolerant of clay and limestone soils, it is one of the easiest perennials to grow. This robust plant of fields and moving gardens excels in borders or mass plantings, in full sun or partial shade. It is highly visited by pollinating insects.

Native to Western Europe to the Caucasus, meadow sage, in Latin Salvia pratensis, is a perennial herbaceous plant, very hardy, that tolerates sun and drought. The 'Lyrical Blues' variety stands out with abundant and intensely coloured flowers. Its foliage is semi-evergreen in winter, forming clumps that can cover 80 cm (32in) in diameter. This medium-sized variety produces multiflower spikes, reaching 60 cm (24in) in height, adorned with flowers with long tubes and two intense blue-violet lips. The flowers bloom from June and continue without interruption until August, providing the soil remains slightly moist. The flowers are highly valued by butterflies and bees. The leaves are ovate to oblong, rough and pleated, slightly corrugated, with crenate edges, of variable size, arranged mainly in basal rosettes. A few small leaves are inserted on the square-shaped floral stems.

The 'Lyrical Blues' meadow sage is vigorous enough to outcompete weeds. Just like its blue ancestor, this plant thrives on slopes, which help to stabilise the plant's deep anchoring roots, and allow it to draw moisture, even during heatwaves. This plant is perfect for maintaining the soil in rockeries or banks near water sources. It is a very resistant plant, enduring prolonged periods of drought and Spartan growing conditions. It tolerates limestone well, even growing on chalky hillsides, and withstands harsh winters without weakening. In borders, associate this pretty wildflower with its cousins clary sage and common sage, with small grasses, blue baptisias, Nepeta x faassenii, lychnis coronaria, graham's sage, with deep pink flowers.

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