It’s no secret we’re a big fan of salvia here at the Butterfly Garden. With the exception of Salvia splendens, this genus of plants offers fantastic nectar sources for butterflies. Salvia leucantha, also known as Mexican Sage, is a late-season bloomer that fills the garden with purple blooms that bring butterflies and pollinators like bees in droves.
Native to Central American and Mexico, Mexican Sage has silvery green foliage that grows into almost shrub-like proportions by the end of summer (3 feet high and tall), when the flower stalks emerge and add another foot or so to the height. The stalks and calyxes are purple and fuzzy, while the blooms themselves are a soft white color.
As you might expect from a plant native to more tropical climates, Mexican Sage is frost-sensitive, and is generally killed back to the ground in a hard freeze. Fortunately, it returns quickly from the base, putting on lush silvery growth all spring and summer until the blooms emerge in the late summer/early fall. The blooms continue until a killing frost. It’s drought-tolerant and prefers full sun to grow best. You can usually find Mexican Sage for sale starting in late summer at most plant nurseries, making it an easy and excellent addition to the southern butterfly garden.
I used to grow that in my last place in my herb and butterfly gardens, I love the soft look to the flowers.
ReplyDelete