In the vast plant world, where each plant carries within it a fragment of history, sages stand as silent witnesses to our past. Their odyssey began long before the first botanists set their curious gaze upon them.

Imagine the ancient Mediterranean: under the burning sun, Theophrastus, Greek philosopher and father of botany, observes these herbs with rough leaves and delicate flowers. He already senses their almost magical power. The word Salvia then whispers a secret from the Latin salvere, meaning "to heal" or "to be in good health". This name resonates like an ancestral oath, carried by generations of herbalists, healers and shamans who have guessed the power of these plants.

Ancient roots, a journey through time

From Greece to Rome, sages are part of people's daily lives. The Romans used them to purify their homes and extract remedies from them. Later, in the Middle Ages, they found refuge in monastic gardens, where herbalist monks cultivated them with care, murmuring prayers while preparing their medicinal potions.
But it is beyond the seas that sages continue their journey. In America, they are deeply rooted in indigenous traditions. Native American peoples use Salvia apiana, white sage, in ritual fumigations intended to purify bodies and minds.
In China, red sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza) became a mainstay of traditional medicine, prized for its benefits on blood circulation and the heart.
Explorers and botanists in search of wonders

Over the centuries, passionate men have set out on the trail of these fascinating plants. Carl von Linné, architect of life, meticulously classifies sages among the jewels of the plant world. Hipólito Ruiz López and Aimé Bonpland, intrepid explorers, cross the Andes and the forests of South America, discovering a new variety, a new mystery at every step.

Mexico stands out as a true sanctuary for sages, home to more than 500 species. There, in the rugged mountains, some are known, others lurk in the shadows, waiting to be revealed. China offers them a second refuge, its medicinal traditions watching over them for millennia.

From the garden of kings to today's flowerbeds:

In the 16th century, the Renaissance gave sage a prominent place in European gardens. First cultivated for its medicinal virtues, it soon seduced for its beauty. With the great explorations, spectacular species such as Salvia splendens and Salvia guaranitica reached Europe, illuminating aristocratic gardens with their dazzling blooms.

Even today, sages continue to fascinate. In naturalist gardens or contemporary flowerbeds, they attract pollinators, amaze with their colors and adapt to all climates. Thanks to advances in hybridization, new varieties are constantly emerging, offering an infinite palette of shapes and shades.
A story in perpetual evolution
But this story is not over.

Even today, keen botanists scour the remote mountains for new species.

Each discovery adds a chapter to this plant saga that spans centuries and continents.
Sages are not just a simple plant. They are a living novel, a botanical chronicle, an epic of discoveries, encounters and mysteries. Their journey is not just a migration of seeds and pollen: it is a human and natural adventure, where each leaf tells a story, where each flower is a poem written by nature itself.