Autumn Sage, red Texas sage

Salvia greggii

autumn sage blooming at Academy Village

About the Plant

Autumn sage is a native of the Chihuahuan Desert, growing in Texas and adjacent Mexico. It is a popular evergreen landscape shrub that typically grows to 2-3 feet high and wide. Hybridization and selection has given us plants with flower colors that range from red to white and dwarf plants that grow only to about a foot. The flowers appear most abundantly in spring and in autumn and always attract hummingbirds.

Bicolor flowers of variety 'Hot Lips'

Grow autumn sage in full sun to very light shade and in well-drained soil. When each flower spike has finished, cut it off just above the pair of leaves below the lowest flower to encourage branching and additional flower production.

Flower spikes not removed will eventually become bare, sticking up above the foliage (see photo below). These bare stalks can be removed one by one, or the whole plant cut back to encourage a more compact form. Most resources agree that this should be done in late winter. However some say prune to a height of 4 inches, other to reduce height by a third. You may need to experiment a bit. Even with care, this plant usually lives only 5-7 years.

Wildlife value: attracts hummingbirds

More Information

Information from Texas Native Shrubs (Texas A&M)

Horticultural information from ASU

Map of distribution in US

In books:

Native Plants for Southwestern Landscapes by Judy Mielke, page 243

Perennials for the Southwest by Mary Irish, page 231

ID Characteristics

 This plant is in the Lamiaceae - the mint family.
Autumn sage is a shrub with an irregular habit. The base is woody. Size can very from 1 x 1 foot for the dwarf hybrids to 3 x 3 feet.
The leaves are opposite and oblong, about an inch long. The are evergreen in the Tucson metro area but may be deciduous in colder climates.
The flowers are held on a 6-8 inch stalk. They are large and showy, 1/2 inch wide, 3/4 inch high and about an inch long. Color ranges from red to dark pink, light pink to white, even bicolors. The lower lip is large and protruding with two lobes. The upper lip is slender and upright and covers the style and the stamens. The sepals are two-lipped and remain on the plant after the petals fall. In some varieties the sepals are similar in color to the petals, but darker, adding to the ornamental value of the flower (see uppermost flower).  They will eventually turn brown (see photo below), then fall off.
The fruit is small and inconspicuous, enclosed in the sepals. The sepals brown, then fall off, leaving a tall, thin stalk that is not particularly attractive.