aboriginal to the Great Basin and Mojave Deserts of the American Southwest , desert sage(Salvia dorrii ) is a minuscule bush with showy naughty prime and purple bracts . It grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture works hardiness geographical zone 5 through 9 . This low - growing bush is also called desert violet sage , purplish sage , grayball sage , Dorr salvia and tobacco salvia . If you ’re a fan of Zane Grey ’s Western novel , it ’s thought that desert sage is the plant life referred to in his playscript , " Riders of the Purple Sage . "
Growth Habits
Desert salvia cook a sizable , mounded bush that is 8 to 32 inches grandiloquent and 24 to 36 inches blanket . It is obtusely bifurcate and does n’t need pruning to conserve its shape . The woody stems and branches have rough , grey bark that pare from the open . Desert sage needs full sun , but in hot desert areas benefits from afternoon shade . A well - draining soil is all-important .
Aromatic Leaves
Plant desert salvia where you could brush by the foliage to release the powerful redolent fragrance in the leaves . The ellipse parting are green but look silvern - gray because of a coating of fine hair . The folio color makes a good foil for the bright spring flowers . The bush is semi - evergreen , retaining its leaves in mild wintertime climates but shed some leave in colder atmospheric condition . Desert sage is repellent to browsing by rabbits and cervid .
Flowers and Pollinators
The blue- to purple - gloomy tubelike flowers sort in whorls along the base . Rosy - purple bract complement the flower colour well and keep their shape and vividness after the flower have faded . The flower clusters provide abundant nectar for bee , butterfly , hummingbirds and moth . The ovary at the base of each efflorescence produces a yield containing four seeds . you may transfer the prime heads when the bracts begin to evanesce for a more tidy appearing . To mature more plants from ejaculate , provide them with up to six weeks of stale - moist stratification for better germination . Put the germ in moist paper towels and seal them in a plastic cup of tea in the icebox .
Using Desert Sage
utile in low - water landscapes , desert salvia is drouth - tolerant and needs piffling maintenance once established . The shrubs make margin or edgings , and they ’re estimable additions to philander and hummingbird gardens . There ’s some evidence that they do n’t tolerate sprinkler irrigation well . Desert sage is suitable for container , which give the plant the excellent drain it take . Always use a container with drain holes . Another alternative is to combine it with drouth - tolerant perennial that have interchangeable ethnical requirement .
References
Related
