Russian sage

Salvia yangii

Tall airy subshrub from the steppe of central Asia, with silver-grey aromatic foliage and clouds of small lavender-blue flowers on white-stemmed branched spires through late summer and autumn.

Hardiness ratings

Russian sage hardiness across the four zone systems
SystemRatingTemperature rangeHow to read it
USDA hardiness zone Zone 4–9 −34.4 °C to −1.1 °C Plant tolerates down to this zone
RHS hardiness rating H7 down to −20 °C Plant needs at least this level of cold tolerance
Canadian plant hardiness zone Zone 5–8 −23 °C to −1 °C Plant tolerates down to this zone
Australian (ANBG) zone Zone 2–6 −10 °C to 15 °C Plant tolerates down to this zone

Growing notes

  • Plant in sunny dry borders and gravel gardens — silvery foliage and blue flower haze provide a long late-season display
  • Outstanding late-summer bee plant — flowers when many other perennials are over
  • Recently moved from Perovskia atriplicifolia to Salvia yangii — many catalogues still use the old name
  • Cut back hard each spring to about 15 cm — flowers on new growth

Categories

Related plants

Cross-check Russian sage against your zones

Reference

Russian sage on Wikipedia