Salvia sagittata (Arrow Leaf Sage) - An evergreen, herbaceous perennial salvia that forms a large shrub reaching 3 to 5 feet tall and wide with thick, yellow-green, deltoid shaped leaves. Very distinctive, striking true gentian blue flower spikes occur summer through fall.
Provide full sun with a quick-draining soil. Mulch plants well and water regularly for optimum growth. Not recommended for hot humid climes. Established, well-mulched plants are cold hardy into the 20's. This is a quite handsome plant for flower and foliage and is listed for use in herbal remedies, dietary supplements and for a yellow dye.
The Arrow-leaf sage comes from the Andes (Ecuador, Peru and Chile) where it grows at elevations up to 10,500 feet. The name Salvia comes from the name used by Pliny for a plant in the genus and comes from the Latin word 'salvere' meaning "to save" in reference to the long-believed healing properties of several Sage species. The specific epithet refers to the sagitate leaf shape, which is Latin for "arrow-head shaped".
This plant made its debut into the California nursery trade in 1999. Our original plant came from Carol Bornstein, then the Director of Horticulture at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and we grew this interesting plant from 2002 until 2015.
This information about Salvia sagittata displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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