Sage - Salvia officinalis
25 Seeds
Sow March - May
Hardy perennial.
Height and spread 60cm (2ft).
Prefers a fairly rich, light, dry, well-drained soil in a sunny position.
Sow seeds underglass 0.5cm (¼") deep, in small trays of compost and lightly cover the seeds with a sprinkling of compost , and place at a temperature of 15-20°C. Alternatively sow direct outside in April and May into shallow seed drills.
Prick out seedlings individually to 7cm (3") pots, once large enough to handle. Grow on in cooler conditions, then gradually harden off plants in a cold frame before planting out after risk of frost has passed. Transplant to final positions 30cm (12in) apart or into larger containers, or grow a few in pots on a light windowsill all year round. Direct sown seedlings can be thinned to 15cm (6in) apart then lifted and transplanted to final positions once large enough to handle.
The square, green, downy stems become woody after the second year. The paired leaves are 2 inches long and greyish green with soft, velvety hairs and pronounced veining underneath, often with yellow blotches on old leaves. The deep throated mauve-blue flowers are two-lipped and appear in summer. Sage attracts bees and grows well with rosemary. It also helps repel cabbage butterflies.
Sage
From the family Lamiaceae.
A native of the Mediterranean, this large family of over 750 species is widely distributed throughout the world. The name Salvia comes from the Latin 'salvere' meaning to save or heal. The Greeks used it to heal ulcers, consumption and snake bites. To the Romans it was a sacred herb gathered with ceremony, the appointed person would make sacrifices of bread and wine, wear a white tunic and be well washed and with bare feet. A special knife was used, not made of iron as sage reacts with iron salts. Sage was held to be good for the brain, the senses and memory. It also made a good gargle and mouthwash and was used as toothpaste. Clary seeds have a mucilaginous coat, which is why some old herbals recommended placing a seed into the eye of someone with a foreign object in it so that it could adhere to the object and make it easy to remove, refering to the plant as 'clear-eye'. It was used as in ingredient in wine and beer production. In 16th-century Germany elderflower infused clary was added to Rhine wines to make a more potent varietal known as Muscatel.