Salvia farinacea Blue Plus Seeds - Mealy Cup Sage

Salvia farinacea Blue Plus also called Mealy Cup Sage, is perennial in its native habitat but is cultivated as an annual in most of our regions, except in the southernmost ones which have much milder winters. This beautiful plant displays gorgeous spikes covered with cobalt-blue flowers that rise above silvery foliage and stems, making for a particularly refined combination of colours. It is suitable for flowerbeds and borders. It is also makes for a very beautiful cut flower.

Salvia farinacea is a perennial plant native to Texas and Mexico, from the family Lamiaceae. Its tenderness and rapid growth make it an excellent annual in most of our climates. The 'Blue Plus' cultivar has a compact, bushy growth habit, developing clumps reaching 25 cm in height and width. It forms bouquets of silvery stems covered with green foliage made up of slightly serrated, lanceolate leaves with downy white undersides. From June to October, upright, flexible spikes appear, covered with small white hairs and cobalt-blue flowers. Mealy Cup Sage gets its name from the glaucous coating covering its stems.

Mealy Cup Sage Blue Plus is perfect as a bedding plant combined with, for example, roses, marigolds or Rudbeckias. It will bring out the romantic beauty of large-flowered peonies. It can also be combined with grasses and gauras or grow them amongst the silvery foliage of sagebrushes. This plant also forms pretty borders along pathways, where it can be planted with snow-in-the-summer (Cerastium tomentosum) which will cover its base with a soft, harmonious blend of muted colours. Its lavender-like spikes last long in a vase.