Red Salvia

 Salvia splendens or tropical sage

Red salvia (Salvia splendens) does not look like a common sage at the first glance. Yet, look closer and you will see that it has all the characteristics of the Mint family (Lamiaceae): square stem, opposite leaves and sage type flowers, albeit quite big compared to wild sages. This beauty is originally from Brazil and can be found in garden sections of the big stores. It grows wild in the mountains where the climate is warm and humid all year round. I have never seen it wild and from the looks of it, it does seem to belong in flower beds rather than mountainous meadowes. But who knows? It might be tougher than it looks.

Red salvia

 Red salvia view from the top

 Red salvia flower

 Like other plants of the Mint family, the "flower" on the above picture is actually a cluster of flowers. Here's a picture where individual flowers making up a cluster can be seen better:

Scarlet sage in pots

In spite of the name, this salvia comes in variety of colours.

No doubt it would make a very nice garden plant, it not only looks splendid but also has a pleasant aroma that is peculiar to sages.

White Sage

As you probably know, there are several kinds of sages out there, the most common being black sage, white sage and purple sage. These are the major varieties and of course withing each one there are subspeices like Cleaveland sage and so on. For me the above categories are good enough. We already had black sage, so today the features plant is white sage.

It's not really white but it gives the impression of the light color when viewed on from the distance. In spring you can also see sages covered with tiny flowers.

A view from above:

The plant is very aromatic, especially if you crush a leaf between you fingers.

N.B. Note the resemblance to the Indigo bush. Sage does not have stiff stems sticking up.

Black Sage

 Black sage (Picture taken in Escondido, CA)

Black sage is a very common plant in Southern California, it occurs quite frequently in a chaparral desert. It does like some water though. This plant is famous for medicinal use though I don't know what exactly you can do with it except add a leaf or two in your cooking to spice it up a bit.

Black sage is one of the several varieties of sages, other common species being white sage and purple sage. They are also known as salvias.