Perennial · North Texas care guide
Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue'
Nursery Pro tip: Texas native mealycup sage. Sold as an annual, usually comes back.
Violet-blue spikes over silvery-green leaves, 18–24 in, blooming spring to frost. Technically a perennial and often root-hardy through our winters, but most people treat it as a season-long bedding plant because it looks best in its first year.
Full sun; any drained soil. Space 12–18 in apart for a solid drift.
Spring after the last freeze, or fall. Hole twice the pot width, ball at grade, native soil with compost, Root Stimulator, mulch.
Weekly, more in the hottest weeks. It wilts when dry and recovers quickly.
Bedding-plant fertilizer at planting and again every six weeks.
Deadhead the spent spikes — that alone doubles the bloom. Shear the whole planting by a third in midsummer if it stretches. Cut back after frost.
Powdery mildew in crowded, shaded plantings. Aphids on new growth.
Classic with yellow — marigolds, lantana, black-eyed Susan — or as the blue in a red-white-and-blue bed with vinca and salvia.
Written for Rockwall's black clay, heat and winters by the Landscape Source team. Every yard is different — bring a photo by, or ask LS-Ai, and we'll tailor it to your spot.