Salvia officianalis is cooking sage. It leaves are normally a silvery grey green, with a texture like that of a baby lizard's skin. A little rough, but not crusty. There are variegated types that include cream and pink shades; these are pretty in the garden, and taste just as good as the normal variety in food. I'm not much of a cook, although I have gained considerable skill as an eater in my lifetime. But I do remember I dish I used to make with garden sage. It was a simple cheese ravioli, wading in fresh sage leaves that had been sauteed in butter. I'd had it at a restaurant and found it simple to make at home.
Note: If you really love cooking, or want to learn how to cook, please visit my friend Caroline's site, "Cooking Up a Storm." (http://cookbad.blogspot.com). She and her partner (they are "CookBad" and "AteThat" to their fans) try out a new recipe every day, and report the results with photos and musings. Stick with them for things you're going to put in your mouth; I'm just here to tell you how my garden grows. But I share my produce with Caroline, so look for some of my avocados in starring roles in some of her upcoming daily updates.
Back to Salvia...
The other sage I grow is Salvia clevelandii. This is a very waterwise choice for the So Cal garden. Its leaves are similar to those of the cooking sage's, but smaller and more narrow in their proportions. It blooms annually, with sweet little purple blossoms. It's not known to maintain especially good form, and sometimes will benefit from being cut back in the fall to branch out and leaf out again in spring. This keeps it from sort of falling apart, which it does once it gets too big, due to brittle stems.
S. clevelandii is one of those plants that can stop you in your tracks and have you asking, "What is that wonderful smell?" Especially in the morning, it simply exudes a fresh almost minty scent that can be sensed a yard or two away from the plant itself.
These are two low maintenance, unthirsty, and good looking plants. They both fit well in a perennial border, though clevelandii won't tolerate wet soil for long, and the cooking sage makes a nice container plant. There are also many purely ornamental varieties in the genus, and if I plant them, I will write about them. When I start a new garden I always toss in some kind of sage; for visual interest, culinary accents, and fragrance, sage will not disappoint.
