Salvia pratensis Swan Lake - Meadow Sage

The Salvia pratensis 'Swan Lake' is a beautiful variety of meadow sage with pure white flowers that bring lightness and a touch of brightness to summer borders. This plant is an excellent garden perennial, floriferous, hardy, water-efficient, and cold-resistant. With its elegant weed-like appearance, it is ideal for borders or mass plantings, in full sun or partial shade. 

Widespread from Western Europe to the Caucasus, meadow sage is a very hardy perennial species, that tolerates sun and drying soils. The 'Swan Lake' variety has the same ease of cultivation, but its flowers are larger and a beautiful pure white. Its leafy stems form a clump that can measure 40 cm (16in) in diameter. The plant blooms from late May to July in successive waves, depending on the climate. It produces numerous multiflorous spike-like inflorescences, carried at a height of 50 cm, with bilabiate flowers. They are highly valued by butterflies and bees. The leaves are ovate to oblong, rough, with crenate margins, more or less large, forming a beautiful vegetation. They are aromatic when crushed. It is a deciduous plant in winter, with vegetation emerging from the ground in spring. 

The 'Swan Lake' meadow sage is vigorous enough to outcompete weeds. Like its blue ancestor, this plant excels on slopes, which help to stabilise this plant's deeply anchored roots, and allow it to draw moisture, even during heatwaves. This is a very resistant plant, which tolerates prolonged periods of drought and spartan growing conditions. This plant well tolerates limestone, even growing on chalky hillsides, enduring harsh winters without weakening. In borders, associate it with clary sage, purple sage, romantic roses, and Nepeta x faassenii, Lychnis coronaria... 

With over 900 species of annuals, perennials, and soft-wooded shrubs, distributed around the globe, except for very cold regions and the tropical forest, the Salvia genus is the richest in the family of Lamiaceae. The name Salvia, which dates back to Roman times, derives from the Latin salvus "healthy" in reference to the medicinal properties of common sage.