This is yet another plant I irrationally love. When I walk by Salvia nemerosa or woodland sage, I can't resist taking a leaf and smelling it. Like all species in the Salvia genus, the leaves are very aromatic, though cooking sage (Salvia officinalis) has much more aromatic and glaucous (gray) leaves.
That said, I love the somewhat acrid, medicinal smell of these leaves. It smells sort of like a perm (for those of you who remember perms!). I'm sure that my good association with this plant must go back to my high school days of working at a plant nursery. I imagine that there was probably a day where I found out that the guy I liked liked me back and I happened to be at work deadheading salvias when I found out. Something like that. There has to be some primal scent connection for me to like this plant so much!
Salvia nemerosa is a popular perennial and if you do cut back the old flowers it can rebloom. It's a clump forming plant but doesn't really take over an area the way Nepeta can. They are related -- generally any plants with highly aromatic foliage are in the Lamiaceae or mint family. Other characteristics in this family include bilaterally symmetrical flowers that appear in whorls around a spike and many members of this family have square stems.
It's hard to mention Salvia these days without addressing the stylish new drug - Salvia divinorum. They are members of the same genus, but woodland sage won't give you the same psychedelic experience as Salvia divinorum.
I got mine from a neighbor, and never knew exactly which sage it was, so THANK you for this post. This sage is so common, though, that I got tired of mine and tried to kill it. I left a tiny piece when I dug it up, however, and wouldn't you know, the thing came back bigger and healthier than ever. Now, although I don't appreciate it's aroma at all, I wouldn't dream of killing it. This is the one plant in my garden that is ABSOLUTELY LOVED by the pollinators. It's constantly visited by Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, Ultra Green Bees, Leafcutter Bees, Wool Carder Bees, and Butterflies, too. I bet if it were red, there'd be hummingbirds, too. Got a suggestion for a red sage?
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