Salvia greggii "Rachel"

Salvia greggii 'Rachel' is an uncommon white-flowered form of the autumn sage, the normally red-flowered small shrub of the Texas and Mexican borderlands, and the plant came to Woodlanders from the Texas plantsman Greg Grant. The clean white flowers are a soft surprise in a species best known for scarlet, and 'Rachel' carries a second twist as well: the leaves are lightly variegated, speckled and dusted with cream, so the plant reads bright even out of bloom.

Everything that makes the autumn sage such a tough, easy garden plant carries through to this selection. As a plant of the semi-desert Southwest, Salvia greggii asks above all for good drainage and a mostly sunny site, and thrives on lean, dry, even alkaline ground that many shrubs cannot take. The white flowers open in waves from summer into fall over the fine, aromatic, cream-flecked foliage, feeding hummingbirds and bees the whole time.

Aromatic when brushed and left alone by deer, 'Rachel' earns a place at the front of a border, in a rock or gravel garden, or near a path where both the pale flowers and the variegated leaves can be read at close range. The compact, twiggy frame stays neat with a hard cut in late winter, which clears the old wood and drives a dense spring flush.

Site the plant in full sun in sharp, well-drained soil, in a xeric border, a rock garden, or a large container, and pair with other sun-and-drought lovers such as agastache, penstemons, and warm-season grasses. A rare and quietly distinctive autumn sage, worth seeking out for the white flowers and speckled leaves together on so durable a plant.