Salvia is the sage family. These are plants with pungent leaves and blooms that can be colorful and showy. There are salvias large and small that grow all over the world. There are some yellow salvias but most bloom in pinks, reds, whites, blues and purples. Some offer the rare color of true blue. There are many that are excellent to use in garden where soil is poor and water scarce. Most of them are adaptable for drought-tolerant gardens with a wide range of conditions. Here is just a sampling of some of the most drought-tolerant of these decorative sages.

Cleveland sage: Salvia clevelandii (CA native) Salvia clevelandii ‘Winifred Gillman’

Salvia melifera‘Terra Secca’

Salvia‘Bee’s Bliss’

Desert blue sage Salvia dorrii

Salvia canariensis (Canary Island Sage)

Penstemon centranthafolius blooms between flows of Salvia ‘Bees Bliss’ and S. ‘Terra Seca’

Salvia chamadryoides

Salvia greggii

Salvia leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage or Velvet Sage)