Garden Speak— Practical Plant Evaluations
Rating Russian Sage
A look at how Perovskia performed at the Chicago Botanic Garden
By Nina A. Koziol
Clear blue flowers are hard
leave Russian sage alone. The plant hails from Asia and China to Turkey and Afghanistan where it grows in dry mountainous areas. Russian
to come by and that’s where Russian sage really shines. Few plants can compete with this sun-loving perennial that’s drought-tolerant and creates a multi-month show with lavender-blue blossoms and silver-gray leaves. Named Perennial of the Year in 1995, Russian sage is remarkable for its striking foliage and upright floral display. “It’s a garden standard,” says Richard Hawke, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plant Evaluation Manager and Associate Scientist. “I had them in when I first built my garden. The perennial industry has come light years since the 1980s.” Indeed, breeders have created new cultivars that are not only more compact—the straight species Perovskia atriplicifolia (azure sage) tends to get leggy — but are more floriferous and offer a variety of intricate leaf shapes. Hawke evaluated the species and many cultivars from 2013 to 2020. “It’s a good landscape plant Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Rocketman’ — the flowers are colorful, but it’s the calyx, the two-tone color that goes sage is not Russian and is not a sage, on and on with the silvery gray-green although taxonomists changed the genus foliage. It has good color, good texture to Salvia yangii in 2017. However, for and has good structure.” (The calyx is all intents and purposes, the green industhe outermost whorl of sepals that holds try and gardeners continue to recognize the petals.) Because of its fragrance, deer The Landscape Contractor 30 July 2021
the plant as Perovskia. “It’s a great pollinator plant even though it’s not a native,” Hawke said.
Nurture
For the best performance, place plants in full sun and give them well-drained soil. There’s no need to deadhead because that will not encourage more blooms, but it will remove the colorful spent flowers. Plants in part shade will sprawl and winter wetness typically rings the death knell, rotting the roots. Come spring, cut the plants back to about six inches tall. After that, remove any stems that don’t sprout new growth. Or, you can also simply cut the stems close to the ground and be done with it.
Plant Combos
“Russian sage provides long summer bloom for the border,” Hawke says. “It contrasts well with both pink- and yellow-flowered perennials. There’s a planting on Evening Island of Perovskia and Coreopsis ‘Golden Shower’ that creates a strong vertical and horizontal effect.” He also likes it paired with fountain grass (Pennisetum) or prairie dropseed. “Talk about a great combination — the softness of the grass (continued on page 32)
