Salvia hians

KASHMIR SAGE

Salvia hians
KASHMIR SAGE

Salvia hians creates a cloud of dusky violet flowers on a wispy mass of upright stems over summer.
So it is a long blooming cloud of colour.

Cloud of dusky violet on wispy stems

This Kashmir Sage gives a lovely rich colour contrast, as well as fine texture to set off more solid, heavy plants.

Soft sweet fragrance

The massed flowers of Salvia hians waft a soft, pleasing fragrance that scents the summer air. While the hairy leaves are also sweetly aromatic.
Flowering begins in late spring, continues through summer and on into autumn until the weather becomes cold.

Foliage texture interest

While the scented, hairy leaves make low, velvety mounds of olive-green that also create textural interest in the garden.

Bees & birds adore the clouds of bloom

Our friends the bees just love foraging amongst the puffy clouds of bloom.
Though they have hot competition from our native honey-eating birds, who can do excellent impersonations of Hummingbirds as they sip the nectar.

Heat & frost tolerant

Salvia hians is a little different to many other Salvias, because it really enjoys humus rich, well fertilized soil.
And in these conditions it is quite dry tolerant once established.
It relishes sun and will bloom it’s head off even in the heat of mid-summer, providing it is well mulched and treated with lashings of compost.

Stands all the cold winter can chuck at it

As a native of Kashmir and Bhutan, it is also well capable of withstanding heavy frost, and all the cold winter can chuck at it, providing the soil is well-drained.
So add some gravel as well as compost into the planting hole – this unusual beauty is worth the fuss.
And it enjoys lime.
In cold areas it will go to ground and lie dormant during winter, ready to puff up to fresh clouds of flowers again with the spring.
Salvia hians is also sometimes known as Himalayan Sage.

50cm. High in rounded clouds of violet flowers x 50cm. Wide mound of attractive foliage.

SEED SOWING ADVICE: QUICK & EASY

Sow seeds of Salvia hians at any time of year in a punnet indoors.

Sow indoors for quick, early plants: First sow the seeds in a punnet on the surface of good quality seed raising mix.
Then pat the seeds gently to the surface of the mix to ensure good contact.

Now barely cover the seeds with sieved mix, sand or grit.
Because light these seeds need light for germination.

Then thoroughly moisten the mix by standing the sown punnet in a shallow water bath, and allowing the moisture to percolate up to the surface of the mix from below.
And continue to keep the sown punnet consistently moist, but not waterlogged, by misting from a spray water bottle, as required.
Covering the punnet with a clear plastic/glass cover helps to maintain consistent moisture.

Temperatures of 20-25C approx. are best for rapid and optimum germination.
So you can use a heat mat to maintain warmth in cooler parts of the year, if you have one.

Now place the sown, moist punnet in a warm, well lit area (but not in any direct sunlight).

Seedlings emerge in approx. 10-14 days.
But do not discard the punnet too quickly after the first seeds have popped up – as these plants naturally stagger their germination.

Seed Count: 12 seeds per pack (seed of this unusual and beautiful species is scarce).

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