Common Name: Type: Family: Native Range: Zone: Height: Spread: Bloom Time: Bloom Description: Sun: Water: Maintenance: Suggested Use: Flower: Attracts: Tolerate: |
Mexican bush sage Herbaceous perennial Lamiaceae Mexico and tropical Americas 8 to 10 2.00 to 3.00 feet 2.00 to 3.00 feet August to frost White with purple calyx Full sun Medium Low Annual Showy Hummingbirds, Butterflies Deer |
Winter hardy to USDA Zones 8-10. North of zone 7 it is grown as an annual in average to rich, evenly moist, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates some light afternoon shade, but generally is best in full sun. Also tolerates some drought, but does best with regular moisture. Purchase plotted plants in spring or start seed indoors 6-8 weeks before last spring frost date. Set out seedlings or purchased plants after last spring frost date. Propagate by seed or by overwintering cuttings taken in late summer. In areas with mild winters, plants may survive outdoors if grown in protected locations, cut to the ground before first frost and given a good winter mulch. Mexican bush sage is an evergreen shrubby perennial that is native to Central America and Mexico. In zone 7and north it is grown as an annual that typically rises 2-3’ tall in a single growing season. This sage is most noted for producing a very attractive late summer to frost bloom of showy bicolor flowers consisting of white corollas and longer-lasting funnel-form purple calyces. Flowers appear in dense, arching, terminal spikes (racemes to 10” long) that extend above the foliage. Flowers are attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. Linear, lance-shaped, gray-green leaves (to 4” long) are borne in pairs on square stems. Foliage has a velvet-like texture, hence the sometimes used common name of velvet sage for this species. |
Information on this page is from Missouri Botanical Gardens. or Dave’s Garden |