Sage is a medium-sized, 2-foot-tall hardy perennial herb. The 2 to 3-inch long leaves are thick, opposite, oblong, and pointed. The stems are semi-woody and square. Color varies by cultivar, from grayish green, to variegated green and yellow, or green with purple and white.
How do I know what kind of sage I have?
Types of Sage Plants
- There is a smaller dwarf that doesn’t exceed a foot in height and blooms with purplish-blue flowers.
- Purple garden sage, as the name suggests, has purple foliage when young.
- Golden sage is a creeping sage with gold and green variegated leaves that accentuates the color of other plants.
How can you tell if a plant is sage?
Sage is a perennial plant that grows about 60 cm (2 feet) tall. The oval leaves are rough or wrinkled and usually downy; the colour ranges from gray-green to whitish green, and some varieties are variegated.
How can you tell white sage from garden sage?
The mature leaves of a white sage plant are smooth and white, while the leaves of garden sage are gray or gray/green. Also white sage is slightly larger, growing 4 to 5 feet tall compared to garden sage’s 2 feet height max.
Which sage is not edible?
Ornamental salvias, like ‘May Night’, tricolor salvia and annual salvia, are not edible. They’re not poisonous, but they’re nothing you’d want to put in soup. The edible salvias are usually referred to as sage, like the Salvia officinalis you use to flavor roasted chicken and turkey.
Can you burn garden sage?
You can also light and burn sage to improve odor, fragrance, and mood. Simply waft sage smoke in and around your home. You can place the bundle in a fireproof bowl or burner and allow it to smoke for a while.
Is any sage poisonous?
Sage is considered safe with no reported side effects ( 46 ). However, some people are concerned about thujone, a compound found in common sage. Animal research has found that high doses of thujone may be toxic to the brain ( 47 ). That said, there is no good evidence that thujone is toxic to humans ( 48 ).
Is there a plant that looks like sage?
Beautiful sprouting stems, green foliage, and pink to purple blossoms – at first glance, Salvia, Russian Sage, and Veronica look identical. But, at closer look, you can see they are quite different. There are many factors to identifying plants – flowers, bloom time, foliage, branching habits, size, and growth.
Is garden sage edible?
Gardeners add the uniquely flavored leaves of common garden sage, an herbaceous perennial, to sauces, stuffings, poultry, pork, and sausage. It provides a lovely fragrance and flavor to a dish, especially when leaves are sautéed before adding. It is a good fall and winter plant in hot climates.
What can I do with fresh garden sage?
Fried sage can be crumbled over a dish to heighten flavor at the last moment. Sage can also be used to add herbaceousness to sauces, compound butters, meat marinades, pastries, and breads. Add fresh sage leaves to cocktails and teas for an instant hit of herbal flavor.
What is garden sage good for?
Sage contains vitamins A and C, along with several other antioxidants which help reduce the risk of serious health conditions like cancer. It’s also rich in vitamin K, which aids the body in clotting blood. Since sage is usually taken in small amounts, it provides a high amount of nutrition without a lot of calories.
Is garden sage invasive?
It does well planted as a low background herb plant in a border with other herbs and also in its own bed. What is this? Mediterranean sage can be invasive. so it is a good choice for containers if you don’t want it to take over your garden area.
Can you burn any kind of sage?
What Type of Sage Do You Burn? Sage comes in several varieties. Healers and herbalists typically use white sage, also known as California or bee sage, for burning. Common sage, lavender sage, blue sage, black sage, and other types each have their own unique qualities, Yeager says.
What does ornamental sage look like?
Flower spikes bloom in shades of blue, dark purple, lavender, red, pink, white and a rare yellow. The stems are square and have narrow, velvety green leaves.
What’s the difference between cooking sage and burning sage?
Is there a difference between cooking sage and white sage that is burned? Yes. White sage (Salvia apiana) is used for ceremonial purposes: the dried leaves are burned for ritual cleansing. It is not used for cooking.
Which sage can you eat?
Common sage is not the only edible Salvia species. Other types include bee or white sage (S. apiana), chia (S. columbariae), and pineapple sage (S.
Is white sage poisonous?
White sage contains a toxic compound known as thujone. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this compound increases your heart rate and causes mental confusion. It also leads to vomiting, restlessness and kidney complications. Hence, you should exercise caution when using white sage.
Is all types of sage edible?
Not all sage is edible. Some varieties are purely ornamental, but they tend to be wonderful for pollinator gardens. If you need to entice bees to come pollinate other plants, adding one of these inedible sages may do the trick.
Do you wash sage leaves before drying?
Next, remove the sage leaves from the stem, taking care to discard any dried-out or discolored leaves. Wash them in a colander under running water, shake any excess water, and dry with a tea towel or paper towel. Now you’re ready to dry your sage using one of the following techniques.
How do you pick burning sage?
Please NEVER pull the sage up by the root and don’t harvest the whole patch…just take some, maybe what you think is the most mature (these will more than likely be the tallest stems). Get down low on the stem and just cut it off using some heavy scissors or pruning shears.
How do you dry garden sage?
Using a sharp knife, slice the sage into thin strips. Place a nonstick baking mat, piece of parchment on an oven tray or use a non stick baking sheet. Spread the sliced sage leaves in an even layer on the tray. Bake in 15 minute increments checking for dryness and repeat baking until dry to the touch.