Salvia forsskaolei

The Salvia forsskaolei is a beautiful perennial sage from the Balkans, named in tribute to the Finnish botanist Pehr Forsskaol. It is interesting for its long, airy and light summer flowering. These are floral stems scattered with small flowers of a pale violet speckled with white and yellow, equipped with purple bracts. They emerge from a clump of large green and hairy basal leaves, which spread as ground cover and often persist in winter. It is a plant for partial shade and light, well-drained soil. Perfect in natural gardens where it wanders, it will be enhanced in a large border, a meadow-like bed, with roses.

The Forsskaol sage is native to southeastern Europe, specifically Bulgaria, Greece, and the Turkish coast of the Black Sea. It grows up to 1900 m (6234ft) altitude, in deciduous and coniferous forests, meadows and steep banks, often in the company of Phlomis russeliana, with which it will associate well in the garden. This plant can well withstand the cold (-15°C (5°F) at least) if the soil is very well-draining and does not retain water in winter. However, this summer-flowering species appreciates slightly cool soil in summer. Like all other salvias, it belongs to the large family of lamiaceae or labiates.

It is a herbaceous and stoloniferous perennial species that spreads on the ground and over time forms beautiful colonies. The plant forms rosettes of large oval leaves, rough, wavy in appearance, covered with short hairs, slightly toothed at the edges. Their colour ranges from light green to dark bluish green in summer. The foliage is semi-evergreen in winter, with some leaves turning a beautiful reddish-orange colour in autumn. Flowering occurs from June to August. Rosettes of leaves emerge from purple-tinged floral stems measuring up to 80 cm (32in) in height. They bear ramified inflorescences, in loose spikes, with small clusters or whorls of bilabiate flowers at regular intervals. They are mauve in colour, adorned with a small white and yellow spot on the lower lip. Honey-bearing and nectar-bearing, they are highly prized by butterflies and bees. This species readily self-seeds in light soil.

The Salvia forsskaolei is vigorous enough to withstand weed competition once established. It excels in beds or along pathways, in the company of catmints, erigerons, penstemons, and foxgloves, in consistently well-drained soil, preferably in morning sun or partial shade. In a meadow-like setting, for example, you can associate it with beautiful grasses such as Stipa tenuifolia, Lychnis coronaria, centaureas, and annual poppies.

With over 900 species of annuals, perennials, and shrubs distributed throughout our planet, except for in very cold regions and tropical forests, the genus Salvia is the richest in the lamiaceae family. The name Salvia, which dates back to Roman times, derives from the Latin salvus  'healthy' in allusion to the medicinal properties of common sage.