SALVIA leucantha

Wonderful herbaceous plant, evergreen perennial, with a typical compact and cushion-like habit, roundish. Native to Mexico and Central America, it has a very high growth rate and can grow in a single season up to 90 cm height and width. The stems, which originate from the base, have a quadrangular section and develop first erect and then arched towards the outside of the plant. The densely aromatic leaves are opposite, linear-lanceolate, greyish-green and velvety in texture. In spring and then especially in autumn, you can witness the wonderful and lasting flowering of this bush. The two-colored flowers (as they consist of white corollas supported by lilac funnel-shaped calyxes) are gathered in gorgeous, long and dense arched inflorescences that develop at the apex of the branches of the year.

It is an easy plant to grow, it needs a sunny and bright position even if it is also suitable to semi-shaded ones where, however, the plant grows less strong and blooms worse. It prefers medium, fresh, rich, humid and well-drained soils; it tolerates drought but grows better if the soil is periodically wet in summer. It tolerates frost but it is better to place it in positions sheltered from the cold wind: if the aerial part is damaged by the wind, the plant will be able to grow back from the base in spring. At the end of flowering (in autumn in the warmer areas and in spring in the colder ones) vigorous pruning may be necessary to reduce the plant to ground level: this will stimulate a more compact and tidy shape as well as subsequent richer flowering. It can be cultivated in pots or in large containers, taking care to ensure adequate humidity through regular wetting; in the ground it can be used to create low monospecies borders or together with other plants characterized by contrasting flowering and foliage to create interesting mixed borders.