Salvia elegans
🔹 Common names: Pineapple sage, tangerine sage
🔹 Family: Lamiaceae
🔹 Origin: Mexico and Central America

Behind its graceful appearance hides a plant that is both ornamental and aromatic. Salvia elegans is known for its foliage with a fruity scent reminiscent of pineapple, which blends harmoniously with its bright red flowers. Used in cooking and gardening, it delights gardeners and pollinators alike.

Discovering Salvia elegans
Salvia elegans is a shrubby perennial that flourishes in mild climates, where it quickly forms beautiful, light and airy clumps. It is ideal for brightening up flowerbeds at the end of the season thanks to its late flowering. Its edible foliage and unique scent also make it a popular plant for gourmet gardens.

Morphological description
🔸 Shape: Bushy, erect, reaching 80 cm to 1.20 m in height and a width of about 60 cm.
🔸 Foliage: Light green to medium green, finely toothed, elongated and soft to the touch, giving off a pineapple or citrus scent when crushed.
🔸 Flowers: Bright red, tubular, grouped in loose and elegant spikes that contrast with the bright foliage.
🔸 Stems: Thin, square and slightly pubescent, becoming semi-woody with age.

Flowering
🔹 Flowering period: Autumn, generally from September to November, sometimes earlier in warm climates.
🔹 Attractiveness: A honey plant par excellence, it attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to regions where they are present.

Hybrids and related varieties
Thanks to its vigor and unique aroma, Salvia elegans has given rise to several interesting varieties and hybrids:
🔹 Salvia elegans 'Golden Delicious': Bright golden foliage, perfect for lighting up a shady clump.
🔹 Salvia elegans 'Honey Melon': Sweeter aroma, between melon and citrus fruits.
🔹 Salvia elegans 'Scarlet Pineapple': Variety with particularly intense scarlet red flowers.

Some crosses with other salvias with fruity scents, such as Salvia dorisiana (salvia with an exotic fruit scent), have given rise to hybrids with even more surprising scents.

Adaptation and ecology
💧 Exposure: Sun to partial shade, but flowering is more generous in full sun.
🌱 Soil: Light, humus-rich, well-drained, with a preference for slightly acidic to neutral soil.
❄️ Hardiness: Moderate, tolerating temperatures down to -5°C to -7°C. In cold regions, it is often grown as an annual or protected in winter with thick mulch.

It can also be grown in pots and brought indoors in winter to keep it from one year to the next.

Cultivation and maintenance
🔸 Planting: In spring after the last frosts, spacing the plants about 50 cm apart.
🔸 Watering: Moderate, more frequent in dry periods. Tolerates drought once well rooted.
🔸 Pruning: Light pruning after flowering encourages branching. A more severe cut in early spring promotes good regrowth.
🔸 Fertilization: Adding compost or organic fertilizer in spring stimulates growth and flowering.

Uses in the garden and elsewhere
🍍 In a clump: Goes well with other late perennials such as asters, dahlias or light grasses.
🪴 In a pot: Ideal on a terrace where you can fully enjoy its fragrance.
🌿 In a gourmet garden: Its edible leaves enhance herbal teas, salads and desserts.
🐝 For biodiversity: Attracts pollinators, contributing to the ecological balance of the garden.

Anecdote and little extra
In addition to its ornamental appeal, Salvia elegans is used in infusion for its digestive and relaxing properties. In Mexico, it is also appreciated for its traditional medicinal properties. A sage with many talents, as beautiful as it is tasty!