Scientific Name Salvia leucantha Common Name Velvet sage

Perennial Flowers Consumer Hort Index - Fact Sheets

Characteristics Season summer, fall Height 36 inches Hardiness USDA Hardiness Zone 7b-10 Flower Color magenta and white with fuzzy magenta calyx Soil well drained Exposure full sun Propagation softwood cuttings in summer North Carolina Regions Piedmont, Coastal Plain Comments Velvet sage is also called Mexican bush sage. It is a relative garden newcomer, but is seen today gracing the late summer garden across the state. It is only hardy from the lower Piedmont to coastal plain, and extreme winters may kill it. The flower stalks bear persistent flower bases which are velvety and purplish, and short lived flowers. Origin Mexico

Prepared by: orginally by Alice B. Russell, retired Extension Specialist, NC State University
                     maintained and expanded by Erv Evans, Consumer Horticulturist, NC State University

Images: ©Alice B. Russell and Erv Evans

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