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Blue Turkish Sage (Salvia cyanescens)

Blue Turkish Sage
Cyanescens flowers
Cyanescens foliage
Cyanescens habit

Overview

Salvia cyanescens, the Blue Turkish Sage, is a beautiful, clump-forming perennial native to Turkey and the Caucasus. It forms a basal rosette of wrinkled, gray-green leaves. In early summer, it sends up branched stems bearing whorls of intense, true blue flowers—a rare color in hardy salvias.

Taxonomy

Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Salvia
Species: cyanescens

Culture

Full sun, well-drained, even rocky soil. Drought tolerant. Grows 18–24 inches tall. Hardy to zone 5. Excellent for rock gardens, gravel gardens, and dry borders. Attracts bees and butterflies. Avoid wet winter soils.

Salvias: Salvia greggii: Autumn Sage with Colorful Flowers for Dry Gardens; Salvia guaranitica: Anise-Scented Sage with Blue Flowers; Salvia sinaloensis: Sinaloan Blue Sage with True Blue Flowers; Salvia madrensis: Forsythia Sage with Yellow Flowers; Salvia uliginosa: Bog Sage with Sky-Blue Flowers; Eyelash-Leaved Sage (Salvia blepharophylla); Snowflake Sage (Salvia chionophylla); Engelmann's Sage (Salvia engelmannii); California Sage (Salvia californica); Salvia napifolia (Turkish Sage)

Garden Articles

Salvia leucantha: Mexican Bush Sage with Velvety Purple and White Flowers

Salvia splendens: Scarlet Sage, the Classic Red Bedding Annual

Salvia chamaedryoides: Germander Sage with True Blue Flowers

Salvia pentstemonoides: Big Red Sage, a Rare Texas Native

Salvia ballotiflora: Shrubby Blue Sage for Dry Gardens

Chiapas Sage (Salvia chiapensis)

Fruit-Scented Sage (Salvia dorisiana)

Plants

Blue Vine Sage (Salvia cacaliifolia)

Himalayan Cloud Sage (Salvia nubicola)

Buchanan's Sage (Salvia buchananii)

Wild Sage (Salvia muirii)

Salvia chamelaeagnea – Rough Blue Sage from South Africa

Salvia caymanensis – Rare Cayman Island Sage

Salvia pratensis – Meadow Clary for Naturalistic Plantings