Red

The following article was written about 5 years ago and I have learned that to get the seeds to sprout, they need warmth and any cool spell will stunt them. I had some seeds sprout late last summer but didn't grow but about 1/2 and inch tall. So, I brought them indoors for the winter. Today, my project is to get the giant plant (no blooms) outside into the garden. We've had a late cold front and have not reached over 55 for 3 days. The section "Seeds" gives excellent directions for getting the little-bity hard to grow seeds a great start. 05-22-03

We�d had a poor rate of sprouting from seeds but did have six plants that were doing very well. During the worst of the summer, they got direct hot sun for most of the day. They grew to about 2 � feet tall and the same across, filling the entire bed.

Two plants went into a bed under a small ornamental tree where they had partial shade all day long. The plants stayed about a foot tall but had plenty of blooms.

As April arrived the following spring, I panicked. They had lasted so long through the fall, I didn�t want to be without the beautiful flowers. The hummingbirds would feast happily among the blooms. A rush seed order, from the only source I could find, arrived but there were no sprouts at all. Late into May I was most pleasantly surprised to find that the Sage had seeded itself and was coming up not just in the original bed but the bed in front of it and about 2 foot around the bed; easily a dozen plants.

The shady bed made six new plants with lots of blooms but still a much smaller plant.

This past summer, I�ve been able to put the Sage just anywhere I wanted to have some started. They make a very small seed that can be gathered as soon as the stalk has finished blooming and has dried. The seeds actually do sprout easily if you just plant them where you want them to grow, water regularly and patiently wait until the spring has warmed enough to suit them. Even if you aren�t going to save the seeds, the spent stalks must be removed or the plant will not grow well and not make many new blooms.

Sage is best planted where you can enjoy watching the hummingbirds frolic but it will do well in hot all day sun or in the shade. Thinking back to the seeds that did not sprout, they probably were not kept warm enough since the plants did not emerge until late into spring. They will keep popping up all summer long and sometimes you don�t notice until they are blooming.

Red Sage will keep blooming until a really hard freeze. One plant on the south side of the house in a protected spot continued to bloom through the end of December. The hummingbirds left with the first night the temperature was down to 45 degrees but we will be ready for next year. They are a beautiful treat to our hot Texas garden and welcome anywhere they sprout.