PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
No image available
Lamiaceae FAMILY

Salvia sylvestris

Salvia sylvestris

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Salvia sylvestris is a very cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to around -20 to -25°c when fully dormant[1].. An easily grown plant[2], it prefers a sunny position and a well-drained soil[3, 2], succeeding in dry soils[3]. Established plants are drought resistant[3]. If the plants are dead-headed after flowering they will normally flower again later in the summer[3]. Plants have stout stems and require little if any staking[2]. There are several named forms selected for their ornamental value[4]. The leaves are fragrant[1]. This species is well suited to the wild garden, growing well in the summer meadow[2]. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[5].

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+sylvestris>

Pollinators

Bees, Lepidoptera, Insects

References

  1. [1]KemperCentreForHomeGardeningPlantFinder — Missouri Botanical Garden · http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/ ↩︎Basic cultivation details, plant uses, habitat etc for several thousand species of plants, mainly from the temperate zone.
  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]The Dry Garden. — Chatto. B. · Dent · 1982 · ISBN 0460045512 ↩︎A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.
  4. [4]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  5. [5]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.
  6. [6]A Book of Salvias - Sages for Every Garden — Clebsch B. · Timber Press Inc.; Oregon. · 1997 · ISBN 0-88192-369-9 ↩︎Fairly detailed information on over 100 species of Salvia that are grown as ornamentals.
  7. [7]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.
  8. [8]Flora of Turkey. — Davis. P. H. · Edinburgh University Press · 1965 · ISBN - ↩︎Not for the casual reader, this is an immense work in many volumes. Some details of plant uses and habitats.
  9. [9]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.