Salvia officinalis ‘Alba’

WHITE KITCHEN SAGE

Salvia officinalis ‘Alba’
WHITE KITCHEN SAGE

Salvia officinalis ‘Alba’ is the pure white flowered form, of the usually purple, culinary sage.
Otherwise it is exactly the same.

Pure white, great flavour & scent

Making a deliciously edible, highly aromatic & a very decorative shrub.
So you can use the leaves fresh or dried for cooking and pot-pourri; cut stems of flowers for vases indoors where they will help scent the room; and also enjoy the rounded decorative shrub in the garden. It is very pretty in flower, as well as a good background shrub or hedge, either clipped or let to grow informally.

Bees love it, rabbits hate it

Your bees and other pollinator friends will also thank you for growing it. Because they love the nectar rich flowers.
While rabbits and deer do not find the highly aromatic leaves fun at all, with all the rich volatile oils making them distasteful.

Extra hardy in heat, frost, dry

Plant this tough and water-wise shrub in Full Sun.
Where it is exceptionally hardy in frost, dry & heat, or poor soil.

Salvia officinalis ‘Alba’ is a hardy evergreen perennial shrub.
And easy low maintenance.
With an annual cut back after flowering the only work required, and this will keep it neat, compact and rounded as a perfect hedge or specimen.
However you can also leave it to grow naturally into an informal shrub.
Approx. 1m. High x 60cm Wide depending on pruning.

SEED SOWING ADVICE: QUICK & EASY

Sow at any time of year in a punnet indoors.

INDOORS: First sow the seeds in a punnet on surface of good quality seed raising mix.
Then gently pat the seed to the surface of the mix, to ensure good contact.
Now barely cover the seed with sieved mix / grit/ washed sand.
Because these seeds need light for germination.

Then thoroughly moisten the sown punnet by standing it in a shallow water bath and allowing the moisture to percolate up to the surface from below.

Now place the punnet in a warm, well-lit position (not in direct sunlight).
You can use a heat mat if you have one, but it is not essential.
A warm window sill is good.

Temperatures of 18-21C approx. are ideal for rapid and optimum germination.

Seedlings emerge in approx. 7-21 days. But do not discard the punnet too quickly – because desert plants naturally stagger their seed germination as a safety precaution.

SEED COUNT: 10 seeds per pack approx.
(We always aim to exceed the stated seed count and give a generous serve).

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