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Lamiaceae FAMILY

Salvia pratensis

Salvia pratensis

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Salvia pratensis is a very cold-hardy plant, being able to tolerate short periods with temperatures down to around -25°c when fully dormant, so long as the soil is well-drained[1, 2]. An easily grown plant, it succeeds in a very well-drained light sandy soil in a sunny position[2]. Prefers a rich soil[3]. Requires a good well-drained soil[1]. Well suited to the wild garden, growing well in the summer meadow[2]. Plants have stout stems and require little if any staking[2]. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[4]. There are many named forms selected for their ornamental value[2].

Propagation

Seed - sow early to mid spring in a greenhouse[2]. Germination usually takes place within 2 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in early summer. In areas where the plant is towards the limits of its hardiness, it is best to grow the plants on in a greenhouse for their first winter and plant them out in late spring of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood succeed at almost any time in the growing season[2]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Salvia+pratensis>

Pollinators

Bees, Insects

References

  1. [1]Perennials. Volumes 1 and 2. — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1991 · ISBN 0-330-30936-9 ↩︎Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  4. [4]Perennial Garden Plants — Thomas. G. S. · J. M. Dent & Sons, London. · 1990 · ISBN 0 460 86048 8 ↩︎A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.
  5. [5]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  6. [6]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  7. [7]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  8. [8]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  9. [9]Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants - Ethnobotany and Food Composition Tables — María de Cortes Sánchez-Mata; Javier Tardío (Editors) · Springer; New York · 2016 · ISBN 978-1-4939-3327-3 ↩︎