Scented woolly sage

Salvia lanigera

In cultivation it grows from 4-8 inches high, and up to 1 foot in its native habitat. The plant is a soft pale gray-green color, giving off a pungent odor when brushed, and is covered with short erect hairs. The narrow leaves are deeply divided, with linear segments. The violet flowers grow in whorls of 6-8, and are held in a tiny calyx covered in long white hairs. In cold climates it is treated as an annual, freely reseeding itself, with seeds overwintering even in sub-freezing climates. It adapts itself to small spaces in between other plants, preferring full sun, lean soil, moderate irrigation, and good drainage.

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