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.
Can you use garden sage for smudging?
Garden or common sage will do the trick, too. Other smudging plants to use include cedar, sweetgrass, and sagebrush. Various herbs and wildflowers make as wonderful additions to your smudge stick. Resinous herbs you may have laying around that you can use include thyme, yarrow, lavender, rosemary, and pine.
Are white sage and common sage the same?
The key distinction is in how the two species are used. While common sage is often used in cooking, white sage is more commonly used in incense rituals and as a fragrant plant. This is because white sage exudes a much more intense, tart and resinous scent. Another distinguishing feature is the leaves.
Is garden sage regular sage?
Garden or common sage (Salvia officinalis) is the most common type of sage used for cooking. You can also make tea from the leaves. It is very hardy and bounces back in the spring even after a severely cold winter. This particular sage has soft, silvery green leaves that can be used fresh or dried.
Is there another name for white sage?
Salvia apiana, the white sage, bee sage, or sacred sage is an evergreen perennial shrub that is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, found mainly in the coastal sage scrub habitat of Southern California and Baja California, on the western edges of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.
What is garden sage used for?
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 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 type of sage is best for cleansing?
For example, blue sage is used in cleansing and healing rituals, while desert sage is used for purifying and protection. Other herbs, including juniper and sweetgrass, can also be burned for similar purposes.
What is the best sage to cleanse your house?
“The type of sage you want to buy is called ‘California White Sage‘ or ‘White Sage Smudge Stick. ‘ Do not use the regular old sage in your kitchen. You want to buy high-quality, ethically cultivated sage. Shamans Market or Taos Herb are both great places to shop.
How do you know if your sage is white sage?
Compared with the other local sages, white sage (Salvia apiana), has larger, paler leaves and longer, taller stalks of flowers – an imposing plant with an imposing odor. This sage is truly distinguished by the unusual flower structure.
How do I identify garden sage?
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
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. Spikes of purple flowers are produced on mature plants.
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 white sage be grown indoors?
Indoor Growing
White Sage is not a successful houseplant, because it needs full, direct sun and excellent air circulation. Salvia apiana is a small, upright shrub with little branching. Its whitish green leaves, which grow in tight basal rosettes, are stiff and just a bit fleshy.
Why is white sage sacred?
White sage is burned for meditation, smudging and cleansing of spirit and dwelling. In some beliefs, white sage smoke is believed to provide a barrier that prevents negative spirits from entering the room in which the ceremony is being held.
Is burning white sage cultural appropriation?
We apologize for perpetuating racism and causing harm to Indigenous Peoples by having made such a post. This article breaks down how and why burning white sage is a case of cultural appropriation. It also covers the overharvesting implications.
How do I know what kind of sage I have?
The first way to categorize types of sage is by color. Most sages are green, but you can also find purple sage and golden sage. Purple sage has really nice purple flowers and a lime-green leaf, while golden sage has yellowish flowers and leaves. Another way to categorize types of sage is by medicinal or culinary use.
Does garden sage flower?
Sage is a hardy perennial with pretty, grayish green leaves that like as good in a perennial border as they do in a vegetable garden. It grows spikes of spring flowers in different colors, including purple, blue, white, and pink.
Are all sage plants 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.
How do you keep garden sage fresh?
Refrigerate Fresh Sage
To store, simply wrap the sage leaves in paper towels and put them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Make sure to use the leaves within four to five days. Fresh leaves that are covered in olive oil can be stored for much longer in the refrigerator, about three weeks.
How do you use homegrown sage?
Add whole sage leaves, along with fresh or dried chiles, to a pot of beans. Use four finely chopped fresh sage leaves per pound of meat in any pork dish involving a gravy or sauce. Use culinary sage leaves’ unique pungency to complement poultry, stuffings, and sausages.
How do you dry fresh garden sage?
In the open air: Bundle your sage leaves together in groups of five or ten using twine or a rubber band. Cover the bundles with a perforated paper bag and hang them until dry. Depending on the humidity, this could take several days.