Reference specimenAccession  SKU-00717

Salvia darcyi

Galeana Sage

At a glance
Type
Perennial
Hardiness
USDA Zones 7–9
Sun
Full Sun
Soil
Well-drained
Mature size
Height 2–3 Feet · Spread 3–4 Feet
Growth rate
Fast
Seasonality
Dies back, depends on zone
A plant Woodlanders once offered on our catalogue

This variety is no actively in production in our propagation house and may not return to our catalogue. We maintain this page purely for reference and archival purposes. If you would like to grow this plant, tell us. Your interest helps guide what we bring back.

For a larger installation or commercial project, write hello@woodlanders.net.

Salvia darcyi, the Galeana sage, is a bold Mexican sage grown for one of the purest scarlets in the whole tribe of salvias, a color that reads across a garden and pulls hummingbirds from a distance. Through the heat of summer and well into fall, upright spikes of large, bright orange-red flowers rise above a mound of soft, gray-green, heart-shaped leaves that release a clean minty scent when brushed. Few tender salvias give so long or so vivid a show.

The plant carries a good discovery story. Salvia darcyi grows wild on the limestone cliffs of the Sierra Madre Oriental near Galeana, in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and came into gardens through the Texas plant explorers John Fairey and Carl Schoenfeld, who collected the species in 1991 and introduced it through their Yucca Do Nursery. From that mountain provenance the sage brings an unexpected toughness, hardy to the low single digits when the winter soil is kept sharply drained and dry.

In the garden the Galeana sage settles into a large, arching clump, in time three to four feet tall and wider still where summers are long, so give the plant room. Site the sage in a hot, sunny, well-drained spot, a xeric or gravel border, a raised bed, or a large container, where the scarlet spikes can be watched for hummingbirds and paired with agastache, other salvias, and warm-season grasses that share a love of heat and sharp drainage.

Drought tolerant once established and largely left alone by deer, Salvia darcyi asks only for sun, lean fast-draining soil, and a dry winter. Cut the old stems back in late winter, since the plant dies to the ground in colder gardens and returns from the root in spring, and enjoy one of the most reliable hummingbird plants a warm garden can hold.

Design Notes

Site Salvia darcyi in a hot, sunny, sharply drained spot, a xeric or gravel border, a raised bed, or a large container, and give the plant room, since a settled clump reaches three to four feet tall and wider still in a long season. Set the scarlet spikes where the hummingbird traffic can be watched at close range, and pair with agastache, other salvias, penstemons, and warm-season grasses that share a love of heat and sharp drainage. The gray-green, aromatic foliage reads well against darker leaves, and a dry, well-drained winter site is the key to carrying the plant through cold.

Flower, Fruit & Foliage

Bright orange-red tubular flowers in upright spikes from summer into fall, a strong draw for hummingbirds.

Flower. Large, bright orange-red, tubular flowers in upright spikes held well above the foliage from the heat of summer into fall, one of the purest scarlets among the salvias and a magnet for hummingbirds.

Foliage. Soft, gray-green, heart-shaped leaves, aromatic and clean-scented when brushed, forming a bold arching mound.

Habit. A tender, clump-forming subshrub reaching three to four feet and spreading wider in a long season, dying back to the root in colder gardens.

Care

Light. Full sun. The sage wants all the heat and light a garden can give.

Soil. Lean, sharply drained soil. Sharp drainage in winter matters more than summer richness, and heavy wet ground in cold weather is the main danger.

Water. Water to establish, then drought-tolerant. Keep the winter root zone on the dry side.

Pruning. Cut the old stems to the ground in late winter; the plant returns from the root in spring where hardy. Shear lightly after the first flush to prolong bloom.

Hardiness. USDA Zones 7 to 9, and hardy to Zone 6 where the winter soil stays dry and sharply drained. Dies back in cold gardens and returns from the root.