Purple Sage, Salvia leucophylla

About Purple Sage (Salvia leucophylla) 72 Nurseries Carry This Plant

Add to My Plant List

Purple Sage is an aromatic sage native to the southern coast of California and Baja California, with a range stretching from Santa Maria southward, at 50-800 meters altitude. It is a shrub growing up to 1.5 meters tall on dry, open hillsides. The leaves are grayish, 2-8 centimeters long, with a puckered surface. The large spikes bear whorls of purple flowers, 6-13 millimeters long. The flowers are highly aromatic and attract a variety of birds and insects. One variety of Purple Sage, Salvia leucophylla Point Sal, makes a great groundcover, usually growing over 10 feet wide and only 2-4 feet high.

This plant is tough, easy to grow and beautiful. It is amazingly drought tolerant, though it can also tolerate light water up to twice per month in the summer to keep it looking a little greener. Beautiful purple flowers and grey green folliage.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

2 - 5 ft tall
3 - 10 ft wide

Form

Mounding, Rounded, Spreading

Growth Rate

Fast

Dormancy

Evergreen, Summer Semi-Deciduous

Fragrance

Fragrant - Pleasant

Flower Color

Purple, Lavender, Pink

Flowering Season

Spring, Summer

Wildlife Supported

Bees, hummingbirds, other pollinators
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 confirmed

, 9 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Alfalfa Looper Moth Autographa californicaAutographa californica

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Bilobed Looper Moth Megalographa bilobaMegalographa biloba

Virginian Tiger Moth Spilosoma virginicaSpilosoma virginica

Wavy-Lined Emerald Synchlora aerataSynchlora aerata

Hawaiian Beet Webworm Spoladea recurvalisSpoladea recurvalis

Pherne subpunctataPherne subpunctata

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun

Moisture

Extremely Low, Very Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 2x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 72

Ease of Care

Very Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 0 - 10° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium

Soil Description

Variable. Soil PH: 5 - 8

Common uses

Bank Stabilization, Groundcovers, Hedges, Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants

Cleveland Sage, California Buckwheat, Lemonade Berry

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Sunset Zones?

8, 9, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting

Site Type

Dry open slopes

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 7.4" - 37.3", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 1.43", Coldest Month: 40.5" - 56.1", Hottest Month: 62.3" - 80.3", Humidity: 0.72" - 27.58", Elevation: 11" - 5843"

Alternative Names

Common Names: San Luis Purple Sage

Print Plant Sign Print Plant Label

Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Purple Sage

Salvia leucophylla

Sign in to your Calscape Account X

Purple SageSalvia leucophylla

Sign in to your Calscape Account X

Purple Sage

Salvia leucophylla