|
Care and Growth of Sage Herbs
for Cooking or Garden Flowers
Some sages are valuable cooking herbs, some are beautiful drought
tolerant garden bloomers. Other sages are great for quick color
in flower beds. Consider adding these plants to your
garden.
 Cooking or Garden
Sage
(Salvia Officinalis)
This is culinary sage, but all types do well in low water
gardens. They
are fairly drought resistant and don't mind the heat.
The sage herbs you cook with in the kitchen also a makes a delicious
addition to dry gardens. Culinary Sage or salvia officinalis is
native to the warm Mediterranean regions. They grow to a height
of three feet tall and almost as wide. The stems are square and
woody, usually covers with short hairs. All parts of this grayish
green plant are aromatic. Salvia leaves are long and thin, up to
4 inches long and 1/2 inch across. They are crinkly, fragrant and
sticky and can be used in cooking either fresh or dried. Sage
grows in full sun to partial, dappled shade, and are hardy to about 20
degrees.
Sage plants flower in the summer with upright usually with blue or
light blue flowers. They are beautiful in arrangements, or dried
for kitchen decoration. Salvia can tolerate regular garden
watering, but will also do well in drought conditions. After a
few years they will need to be cut back to remove dead branches and
maintain shape.
Sage can be grown in containers. The recommended size is at least
an 8 inch pot, or larger. The smaller the pot, the faster plants
can dry out, so it is advisable to water every week as long as the soil
doesn't become soggy.
Sage has a strong, earthy aroma. It adds flavor and depth to
stews and soups. It mixes well with beef or chicken and makes
green beans seem a little bit heartier. Pineapple sage is a close
relative and adds a lighter flavor to food. It goes well with
chicken. Fresh sage is great stuffed into chicken or turkey
roasts and you can use the whole branch. Put an orange in there
for a great flavor combo.
 California White Sage
(Salvia apiana)
This beautiful shrub is native to Southern California and Baja.
It is
usually found growing wild in the coastal sage scrub habitat on the
western edges of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.
It grows five
feet
tall (at least) and 5 feet across.
White Sage is also called Bee Sage; my
camera was lucky enough to catch one on a flower. The leaves are
up to
4 inches long, thick and velvety and are slightly sticky.
The
whole
plant is very aromatic so you should find a spot in your garden where
you can enjoy its fragrance.
The silvery plant seems to glow in the moonlight. The flowers are
white, sometimes tinted purple and are produced in whorls on long
branches up to three feet long.
White sage is considered sacred by Native Americans, like the Chumash,
in the southwestern United States. The Peterson Field Guide To
Western
Medicinal Plants And Herbs describes it thus: "Considered an
expectorant; used for colds, coughs, sore throats and systemic poison
oak rashes.
An important ceremonial plant among
southwestern Indian
groups. The herb was burned as a fumigant after an illness in the
dwelling and to cleanse sacred spaces.
Annual
Sage
(Salvia sp.)
Many annual sages are grown for quick color in the garden. One of
the more common forms are red. Other colors can include pink,
white and yellow. Most sages reseed in the garden, sending up new
plants in the spring.
How
to Dry Your Herbs
The best time to pick sage for drying
is just before it flowers, but any time of year will work. Be
sure your branches are free from water or dew. To dry
the herbs, tie them in a bunch and hang them upside down in a cool dry
place to snip as needed.
Before modern medicine sage tea was gargled for sore throats and cold
tea was drunk to stop sweating. Crushed fresh leaves were used on
insect bites. The Romans used sage in religious rites and Native
Americans recognize White Sage for blessing and cleansing.
Start a little kitchen garden either outdoors or on your
windowsill. Good companion herb plants for sage are rosemary and
thyme as they have similar water and sun requirements.
Keep up to date on what's blooming in the garden
and
ask questions about the articles or plants you've read about here! |
|
