Dan Songster, guest author and former President of the Orange County Chapter of CNPS (OCCNPS), submitted this article featuring Cleveland Sage as the Plant of the Month for June.

Cleveland Sage-Salvia clevelandii
Mint Family (Lamiaceae)

• Type: Woody Sub-Shrub
• Light: Full sun normally, but can tolerate some light shade inland
• Soil: Adaptable
• Water: Occasional but can certainly take drought
• Common Habitat: Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrub

The Basics

What a lovely, fragrant, garden tolerant species of sage! Cleveland Sage normally spans about 3 to 5 feet in width and height. With gray green leaves and light purple/lavender flowers on long stalks, it can certainly be a standout in every native garden. This sage is revered for fast growth, neat habit, potent perfume, and colorful flowers. 

Most of our native Salvia are spring bloomers and excluding a few blossoms on the Purple Sage (Salvia leucophylla), most are finished for the year after spring ends. Cleveland Sage is the exception. It blooms from May to August and provides early summer flowers for your landscape.

It is also the most evergreen of our local Salvias; while most have switched to their small, dry summer leaves, Cleveland Sage remains pleasantly evergreen through most of the summer.

Garden Uses

Thriving in full sun and able to grow in clay soils, this drought- and heat-tolerant beauty is a garden designer’s favorite with a versatility like no other sage. 

Cleveland Sage adds a splash of blue-purple to the late spring and early summer garden. You can imagine it contrasting beautifully with the creamy pastels of the native buckwheat flowers or the yellows of summer sunflowers. Cleveland Sage is also dramatic when massed. It can be used as a foundation plant at the back of water-wise flower beds or as an accent plant. It even works in larger containers.

For native landscapes that focus on providing habitat, Cleveland Sage is a great addition. Its flowers attract hummingbirds (they may fight over the flowers), butterflies and other pollinators including native bumble bees. Seed-eating birds like goldfinches pluck seeds from the stems in late summer and fall. And the shrubby habit makes great shelter for ground-dwelling birds and lizards. Planting this sage is more than adding a wonderful native to your garden; it’s a small act of habitat restoration. 

Fragrance

Theodore Payne wrote in his 1941 catalogue about Cleveland Sage’s delightful scent, “A charming little shrub from San Diego County….very showy, blooming profusely in early summer. Both flowers and foliage delightfully fragrant even after drying.” 

Dr. Connie Vadheim, writing her Mother Nature’s Backyard blog is more descriptive, “The aroma of the leaves is heavenly; the sweetly fresh scent is prized by many gardeners. An aroma garden would not be complete without Cleveland Sage; it smells like no other sage and is delightful beside a seating area in summer. The flowers – even the dried stems – make great cut flowers.  The leaves can also be dried for use as a flavoring, incense or potpourri. The scent lasts for at least 6-8 months after drying. Place a sachet of dried Cleveland Sage in a clothing drawer for a reminder of summer. Or use the dried leaves to create a refreshing bath or shower.”

Care 

In much of southern California, Salvia clevelandii looks best with occasional summer water–perhaps several waterings in the summer. It grows in areas to our south that often receive summer monsoons. If it feels muggy and weather reports show a storm coming up from Baja California, (these storms that often threaten but seldom produce much rain here in Orange County), that is a great time to water many of our coastal sage plants including Cleveland Sage. 

Lifespan? Yes, it tends to be somewhat short-lived in gardens but they are very easy to propagate from cuttings and it is worth simply replanting this lovely plant every five years or so if necessary. 

Pruning

With most Cleveland Sages and its cultivars, shearing the younger plants (1-3 years old) of about one-half to a third of its volume will make it a denser, more floriferous plant the following season. Removing such growth is usually done in late fall after the birds have enjoyed the seeds but before the new growth occurs. Such pruning also helps keep the plant from pulling apart from the weight on its branches leveraging outward. I have seen many an older plant split at the base leading to disfigurement and an early demise. 

Important: Once the plant has reached relative maturity after a couple years, simple tip pruning is often sufficient to keep the plants in “shape” and happy. Don’t be surprised if this light deadheading promotes a second round of blooming. This fall pruning could be an imitation of browsing deer in the wilds and promotes a denser, more rounded shape with more growing points for flowers next season. 

Very Important: Don’t cut back into the older, non-budding wood, which cannot re-sprout.  

Which Cleveland Sage to Grow?

Whether you choose the straight species or a cultivar, Cleveland Sage will be dependable performer in your garden. Because the growth habit, foliage and flower color, bloom season, size, and fragrance are quite different among the cultivars, it is often a good idea to see a plant in person before purchasing.

Among the cultivars there are many good plants that share the desirable features of Salvia clevelandii. The most common are the Salvia clevelandii x S. leucophylla hybrids. These cultivars have slightly lighter purple flowers, with more flower clusters per stalk. Like Purple Sage, they are very drought tolerant and may be longer lived than straight Cleveland Sage.

Some of the Cleveland Sage varieties and hybrids found in nurseries include:

Aromas Sage (Salvia clevelandii ‘Aromas’)

•   4 feet high and 4 feet wide
•   Lavender flowers
•   Highly aromatic

Winnifred Gilman Cleveland Sage (Salvia clevelandii ‘Winnifred Gilman’)

•    3 feet high and 3 feet wide (a bit more compact)
•    Electric bluish-purple flowers

Bee’s Bliss Sage (Salvia ‘Bee’s Bliss’)

•   1-2 feet high and 6 feet wide
•   Lavender-pink flowers
•   Cross of Cleveland Sage and Purple Sage (S. clevelandii x S. leucophylla)

Allen Chickering Sage (Salvia ‘Allen Chickering’)

•    5 feet to 6 feet high and 5 feet to 6 feet wide
•    Lavender flowers, gray-green foliage
•    Prolific bloomer
•    Cross of Cleveland Sage and Purple Sage (S. clevelandii x S. leucophylla)

Whirly Blue Sage (Salvia ‘Whirly Blue’)

•   5 feet high and 5 feet wide
•   Large, deep violet flowers
•   Flowers are larger and a deeper shade of purple than Aromas and Allen Chickering
•  Cross of Cleveland Sage and Purple Sage (S. clevelandii x S. leucophylla)

Pozo Blue Sage (Salvia ‘Pozo Blue’)

•    4 feet high and 4 feet wide
•    Violet-blue flowers
•    One of the most adaptable of sages
•    Cross of Cleveland Sage and Purple Sage (S. clevelandii x S. leucophylla)

Celestial Blue Sage (Salvia ‘Celestial Blue’)

•    4 feet to 5 feet high and 4 feet to 5 feet wide
•    Two-toned intense blue and pink flowers
•    Cross of Cleveland Sage and Mountain Desert Sage (S. clevelandii x S. pachyphylla x S. leucophylla)

Vicki Romo Sage (Salvia ‘Vicki Romo’)

•   3 feet high and 3 feet wide
•   Light lavender flowers
•   Cross of White Sage and Cleveland Sage (S. apiana x S. clevelandii)

Do you have experience growing Salvia clevelandii or a Salvia clevelandii hybrid in your garden? Are you as delighted with your Salvias as we are? Write back and share your thoughts and photos.