Salvia 'Mystic Spires'

Salvia 'Mystic Spires' is a bushy hybrid sage, Salvia longispicata x farinacea 'Mystic Spires', that sends up dense spikes of deep blue flowers over aromatic green foliage from early summer until frost. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds work the spikes all season, so it earns a place in pollinator borders and mixed containers. Plant it in full sun in average, well drained soil. It handles heat and humidity and is drought tolerant once established, while heavy water and fertilizer push leafy growth at the expense of bloom. Plants reach about 18 to 30 inches tall and up to 2 feet wide, and grow as a perennial in USDA zones 7 through 10 and as an annual farther north. Compared with the older hybrid 'Indigo Spires', which reaches roughly 4 feet on long arching stalks, this one stays compact and flowers even more freely.