Today, according to the database of a joint project of two world-famous organizations involved in the systematization and description of plants (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK and Missouri Botanic Gardens, USA), called The plant list (list of plants), on earth 986 species of sage grow in the ball.
Features of the genus
The Latin name for sage is Salvia. This is a perennial plant of the Lamiaceae family. In Russia, it is traditionally divided into salvia and sage. The first refers to ornamental plants that are cultivated in an annual crop.
Salvia varieties (natural and hybrid) are sold by seeds. Their sowing for seedlings is carried out in February-March in planting boxes. Then the picking and seating of the seedlings in individual containers takes place. Landing in the ground is carried out around the beginning of June, after the threat of return frosts has been removed. Salvia blooms (almost all varieties) from the age of four months until the end of the summer season. Decorativeness is created by various shades of flowers - from purple to scarlet.
Sage is grown as a perennial plant, well known both in Europe and in allthe rest of the world. Since it is not difficult to grow sage, it is customary in horticulture of various climatic regions to cultivate their own species, tested by time, medicinal and culinary experience.
Sage: species and cultivation (briefly)
Most often the plant is associated with medicinal use. Its main species is called medicinal sage (Sālvia officinālis).
Historical use is diverse: tinctures are used as an antiseptic for diseases of the gums and teeth, in the form of douching - for women's problems, aromatic oils - for respiratory diseases, decoctions - for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Modern pharmaceutics uses Sālvia officinālis as an integral part of many preparations. Growing sage officinalis is within the power of any gardener, its decorative qualities help to decorate summer cottages.
The clary sage (Salvia sclarea) is ubiquitous, often growing as a weed. Its use is associated with the specific smell of essential oil, reminiscent of the aroma of orange and bergamot. The liquor and culinary industries use it to flavor products with nutmeg.
Meadow sage (Salvia pratensis) grows on slopes, including rocky ones, and is distributed throughout Europe. Its dried leaves are used in cooking as seasonings for salads, soups, broths. Included in homemade marinade.
Desert sage (Salvia deserta) grows in Russia on the slopes of Altai. Among other wildspecies is of particular value as an outstanding honey plant.
Oak sage (Salvia nemorosa) - also Moldavian, aka Yayli sage. Growing in the country as an ornamental and honey plant is associated with some difficulties. The fact is that historically it is cultivated as heat-loving. Intolerance to winters with little snow and susceptibility to freezing are the hallmarks of oak sage. Planting and care in open ground in the middle zone of the Russian Federation is not difficult. And shelter before winter is a rather difficult and time-consuming agrotechnical process for this species.
Sage: planting and care in the open field (general)
Cultivation of a plant has features related to the historical origin of each species. The habitat is almost all natural areas. Growing sage in home gardens is interesting from the point of view of obtaining an ornamental fragrant honey plant, which also has medicinal and culinary features.
The fruits of almost all varieties of sage are trihedral rounded nuts from 1.5 to 3 mm. Are on sale for gardeners-gardeners from producers - seed-growing nurseries. Growing sage from seeds is not difficult, even the most inexperienced gardener can handle it (the process technology can be read below). It is much more difficult to preserve this plant for the second and subsequent years in conditions of little snow and rather severe winters in the middle zone of the Russian Federation.
All types of sage are undemanding to the mechanical composition of the soil: loams with added humus and lime are suitable for them. But heavy claysoils with poor water permeability are the cause of sage freezing and rotting in the summer wet period. For spring planting, it is enough to prepare the site for cultivation in advance by introducing humus humus in the fall, before the sage planting season.
The rules for growing an adult bush dictate a fairly strict approach to the place and distances to other plants.
The site for sage should be chosen so that the plant is not far from garden paths. Otherwise, its flavor will not be available. At the same time, the plant requires shelter for the winter (albeit not the same as for the vine), so it is not advisable to place it near the house, where the paths will be cleared of snow or icicles will melt.
Sage bushes with timely feeding and watering can grow up to a meter in height, their width in the second and subsequent years will increase from half a meter in diameter.
Getting seedlings
Since it is easiest to grow sage from seeds in the middle zone of the Russian Federation using seedlings, therefore, the main efforts of the gardener should be focused on these works.
It is desirable to start planting material already in February-March. See below for how to grow sage from seeds by direct planting in the ground.
Seeds should be soaked for a day in warm water before planting. Then rinse the bag in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. Seeds prepared in this way can be sown inseating box, sealing them to a depth of no more than 1.5 mm. Close the box with glass or film, place in a warm place (20-25 degrees Celsius). Ventilate periodically by opening for 5-20 minutes to additionally check for moisture and mold.
In two or three weeks, sprouts will appear. Glass must be removed, put the box in a lighted room. Best of all - next to the radiator, under the windowsill. The temperature for sage should not be below 20 degrees Celsius - the plant is thermophilic.
Seedlings with a height of about 1.5-2 cm should be transplanted into cups (peat or paper pots), remembering that the root system of sage is powerful, so it is easy to damage it when planting in the ground, if removed from plastic containers.
Planting seedlings in the ground
In early June, grown and hardened seedlings can be planted in the ground. Before that, since the beginning of May, it can be taken out in the sun. The soil must be prepared in the fall, adding humus and mineral fertilizers to it: the earth should not be acidic. If necessary, add peat and sand.
Plants should be spaced at least 25cm apart. This scheme can be seen as temporary. In the second year, you can transplant sage individually along the paths.
Caring for seedlings does not require special tricks: weeding, watering, top dressing with liquid fertilizers once a decade, mineral fertilizers three times a season. Planted seedlings need to be watered with warm water, you can warm it in the sun.
Planting in open ground with seeds
Cultivation of sage in the country sowingseeds in open ground should begin in the fall, in October-November. At the same time, soil preparation is carried out as early as September, for digging it is necessary to lay humus, leaf litter, a little sand and peat. The earth should be loose, lumps should be minimal.
Spread the seeds into the holes, sprinkle with river sand, a layer of dry humus and spill. Seed germination with this method, according to gardeners, will be no more than 50%. During spring planting, the land is prepared in the fall, in the spring you need to loosen it by removing the roots of perennial weeds.
Seeds germinate at an average daily soil temperature of about twenty degrees. The end of May gives such conditions, so you need to loosen the site with seeds planted before winter or spring, water and weed from weeds. You can wrap it with non-woven fabric - this will serve as a good shelter from night frosts and keep the soil from drying out.
Rare (expensive) varieties of sage should not be grown in this way, as well as thermophilic varieties, which should be read in the instructions on the seed bag.
Features of care
The plant of the first year can bloom under favorable conditions: early powerful seedlings, warm May without return frosts. Although the main task of the gardener for this period is to grow a strong plant for subsequent growth and flowering.
Feeding should not be excessive. It is enough to do this once every twenty days with liquid fertilizers: manure diluted 1:10, infused herbs of the same concentration, humate prepared according to the instructions. Fertilizing with mineral (potassium-phosphorus) fertilizers is desirable in the fall.
Watering the plant is done as needed, it is better to do it in the evening. The soil under it should not be too wet, the roots may rot. In one place, sage grows well from five to six years, after this period the bushes can become huge (with good care) or, conversely, degenerate. The plant can reduce the number of root growth points. In both cases, it is better to transplant it.
Wintering and wintering
Almost all types of sage do not tolerate prolonged frosts with little snow. To prepare the plant for wintering (in time this is the onset of stable cold weather with sub-zero night temperatures), you need to start with pruning: all shoots are cut to the height of the soil, under the stump. The plant is covered with mulch (dry humus). In this case, all root points of growth must be closed. After persistent frosts with a temperature of at least 5-6 degrees, sage should be covered with spruce branches or the remains of garden plants.
In winter, be sure to follow a good snow shelter, in winters with little snow, you need to add snow. Shelter in the spring can be removed only after the end of return frosts, do it gradually, carefully monitoring night temperatures. Tender young shoots of sage, warmed up in the daytime sun, can freeze at night in sub-zero temperatures.
Methods of propagation of sage
The plant you like can be propagated by dividing the bush, vegetatively and cuttings.
The best time for dividing a bush is spring. After the appearance of young shoots, you needdig up a sage bush and carefully divide it. If you can’t do it with your hands, you can take a sharply sharpened shovel and quickly divide the bush into two (or more) parts. Division can also be carried out with disinfected secateurs, cutting the root system into pieces.
For vegetative propagation at the beginning of summer, you need to carefully bend a strong process to the ground, pin it with a bracket, sprinkle it with earth. Make sure that the soil covers the bracket. After two months, a developed root layering system will allow you to separate the new plant from the mother.
For cuttings, you need to cut off a strong shoot with a blade or scalpel, leave four buds on it. On the top, keep the leaves intact, the fourth goes into the soil. Root in a prepared light planting mixture of humus and perlite to a depth of 8-10 cm, placing the shoot obliquely. Shed. Create a mini-greenhouse by covering the container with the handle with a film. Moisturize as needed, ventilate. In a month, the cutting will give good roots.
It is not necessary to delay the planting of the plant in the ground, since the sage should take root well by autumn.
