It thrives in full sun and in well-draining soil, making it ideal forxeriscape gardensand rocky slopes.
Among its other strengths, autumn sage is also salt-tolerant and deer-resistant.
Autumn Sage Care
Autumn sage is a fairly easy-going plant.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Here are the main care requirements for growing autumn sage.
Soil
Give the plant moderately fertile, well-drained soil.
Autumn sage does well in gravely, rocky soil, but may not tolerate dense clay-based soil.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Water
Water regularly after planting.
Once established, plants require only average wateringno more than 1 inch per week.
Do not overwater; in many regions, rainfall is enough.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Like mosttypes of salvia, autumn sage does not flourish with excess moisture.
If your garden soil does not meet this need, consider planting in a container or axeriscape landscape.
Autumn sage is generally hardy to about 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Lower temperatures can be damaging or deadly to the plants.
Fertilizer
All sage plants are light feeders, and autumn sage is no exception.
If your soil is moderately fertile, no additional feeding may be necessary at all.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Propagating Autumn Sage
Autumn sage is best propagated through softwood cuttings or root divisions.
Stem cuttings or divisions will often produce flowering plants in their first year.
Common Pests & Plant Diseases
Autumn sage is easy to maintain with no serious issues.
Maintaining dry conditions, using horticultural soaps, and theresponsible tool of pesticidescan assist in controlling these pests.
This plant is especially resentful of wet winter conditions.
What Do Autumn Sage’s Flowers Look and Smell Like?
Autumn sage produces whorls of blossoms that appear atop foliage of 2-inch green oval leaves.
The leaves offer the most fragrance with a minty scent.
This plant needs lots of sun; shady locations will reduce flowering.
Deadheading Autumn Sage Flowers
Flowers can be deadheaded as they fade and wilt.
The failure to do this may result in many volunteer plants.
This plant will self-seed quite vigorously, which is ideal if you want autumn sage to spread.
If you have regular rainfall, additional irrigation is usually not necessary at all.
Too much water often results in yellowing leaves.
The best place to use autumn sage is in dry, sunny border gardens and foundation plantings.
It also works well in native wildflower gardens androck/gravel gardens.
It can even work in containers for sunny patios or courtyards.
Along with various sages,lavenderandthymeare often described as subshrubs.
Autumn sage will return each year in areas where it is perennial: USDA hardiness zones 6 through 9.
