Salvia yangii

One of our favourite perennials, often confused with lavender for its vibrant violet-blue flowers and silvery foliage. It pairs beautifully with ornamental grasses in an aromatic meadow, where it sways in the breeze and releases its wonderful sage scent.

Salvia yangii — formerly known as Perovskia atriplicifolia — is a Central Asian sage with finely cut silver-grey aromatic leaves and tall spikes of small lavender-blue flowers from midsummer through autumn — typically July to October. The flowering peak coincides with the hottest, driest Mediterranean months, exactly when most other perennials are heat-stressed. The whole plant releases a sage-and-camphor scent when brushed. Hardy to -25°C, exceptionally drought-tolerant, the plant thrives in poor stony alkaline soils, full sun and reflected heat; rich soils and overwatering cause floppy growth that splits open in the middle.

Russian sage forms an airy upright clump 90–150 cm tall and 60–90 cm wide. Use through the middle and back of dry borders, in mass plantings on slopes and along driveways, in contemporary minimalist compositions with grasses, and in large rectangular containers. The cool lavender-blue cloud combines beautifully with the warm gold of Achillea filipendulina, the magenta of Echinacea purpurea, the pink mist of Muhlenbergia capillaris and the silver-green of Lavandula angustifolia. Excellent against pale stone walls and white-stuccoed buildings, where the airy structure softens the architecture. Cut back hard to 15 cm in late winter to refresh the plant for next season; do not cut into the previous year's growth, which produces the flowering shoots.