Salvias

Herbs of innate beauty and bearing, salvias have been especially popular since the 1970s with those who garden for pleasure. Gardening has become a widespread avocation throughout the English speaking world and Europe, and those who have chosen to grow salvias have found them handsome and dependable plants that are, by and large, easy to grow. Rapid and reliable transportation now makes it possible for many species and selections of Salvia to be introduced to horticulture from the wild.

The Roman scientist and historian Pliny the Elder was the first to use the Latin name Salvia. The name derives from salvare, to heal or save, and salvus, uninjured or whole, referring to the several species of Salvia with medicinal properties. Pliny's interest in plants was utilitarian, and his encyclopedic compilation, Natural History, included salvias in the vegetable kingdom. In his botanical writing he dealt almost exclusively with the agricultural and medical attributes of plants.

Information on the virtues of sages is also to be found in the old herbals of medieval and renaissance Europe, usually illustrated with woodcuts or engravings. Not only are medicinal recipes given, but charms and spells are described. The common name sage originated in England and is probably a corruption of the old French sauge. Sage refers specifically to Salvia officinalis, a herb widely used long ago as a "simple," or household remedy.

Salvias are members of the mint family, Lamiaceae, and comprise the largest genus in that family. The fragrant foliage of many salvias has been used for over twenty centuries to heal the minds and bodies of people of many different climates and cultures. Salvias may be described by growth habit as perennial, biennial, or annual herbs, or as evergreen or deciduous shrubs. Some species are scandent and appear to climb, but they lack organs such as tendrils for support. The genus is distributed throughout the temperate and sub-tropical regions of the world, occurring from sea level to elevations of 11,000 ft (3400 m) or more. The temperature ranges where they are found is equally great. Some habitats experience 0°F (-18°C) or lower, while others may have readings of over 100°F (38°C). One can only marvel at the complex and rich diversity of the genus and at humankind's discovery of the healing or soothing qualities of different species occurring in regions spread throughout the world.

How can a gardener be sure that a plant is a salvia? Is there a simple set of easily observed characters that will help assure a reliable decision? First, look for opposite leaves and square stems that with age sometimes become round. Next, observe an individual flower closely. The corolla, the colorful tube, can have a variety of shapes, but it must have two lips of unequal length; the upper lip is variable in shape and the lower lip is usually spreading. The calyx must also be two-lipped. The upper lip can have two or three teeth or may be undivided. The lower lip is often two toothed. There are always two fertile stamens and sometimes two infertile ones called staminodes. Usually four seeds are produced; they are frequently mucilaginous when dampened.

Over 900 species of Salvia exist worldwide, with well over half occurring in the Americas but none in Australasia. Add to that number natural hybrids (from the wild and from gardens) and cultivated hybrids, and the total figure increases by several hundred or more. Selected cultivars also raise the total significantly. Because of the large number of species and their diverse native locations, botanists have been unable to treat them in a single work. Luckily, monographs and floras for a number of geographical areas do exist, representing many years of work by competent authorities.

Few, if any, cardinal rules can be made as to the culture of all salvias. Water-logged clay soil spells disaster and a hasty demise by drowning or disease. Soil that drains rapidly prevents fungal problems and promotes the circulation of air around the root cavities, an essential condition for healthy herbs. Friable soil is usually recommended for all species, and attention is drawn to those herbs needing very sharp drainage and to lime or humus loving species.

Although not prone to disease, occasionally plants are struck by fungal attack, and wilt and die. Good air circulation will help in general with the overall health of the garden. The volatile leaf oils and other chemicals in salvias not only encourage good health but discourage predation by insects, butterflies, snails, slugs, birds, even deer.

Propagation of annuals and of biennials and perennials that mature as quickly as annuals is by seed that is usually sown outdoors. At all times seedlings must be protected from birds. Herbaceous and woody perennials and shrub species are sown from late spring through early summer, allowing ample time for the plant's root system to become established before frost. Cuttings are sometimes a faster means of establishing a new plant, and woody perennials and shrubs respond well to this method.