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FLIMBY: In praise of a pollinator magnet

Small-leaf salvias love our climate and produce abundant blooms

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED MAR 31, 2026

One of the most popular salvia cultivars is this red and white variety, known as 'Hot Lips.' Kathy Morrison

This is another installment in our weekly Flowers in My Back Yard series devoted to blooming plants.

For a few years, I had quite a salvia buying habit. First the colors of the flowers drew me in, bright pink or red, blue violet or lavender, and even peach against the soft green leaves.

Then the ease of caring for these small perennials kept me searching them out at plant sales and nurseries. Almost a "plant it and forget it" shrub, the salvia thrived in the garden once established.

And the pollinators absolutely loved the bright tubular flowers -- even more reason to choose these lovely, climate-tolerant shrubs.

But it wasn't until I learned how to prune them that my salvia plants came into their own.

For this blog post, when I refer to salvia I specifically mean Salvia greggii, known commonly as autumn sage, and Salvia microphylla, sometimes called baby sage. The two, also grouped as "small-leaf salvias," are almost identical when it comes to flowers, but their growth habits are slightly different, microphylla being slightly larger, with somewhat flexible branches and serrated leaves, while greggii has smaller leaves with smooth margins and its branches are more brittle. Full size, they range from 2 to 4 feet tall and wide, with a mounding habit.

They are not California natives, but are from the Southwest, primarily Texas and Mexico. There also is a naturally occurring hybrid of these two varieties, Salvia x jamensis. And cultivars abound.

All of these salvias are on the updated UC Davis Arboretum All-Star list, which indicates how valuable they are in our landscapes. To be an Arboretum All Star, a plant must offer strong habitat value (providing food, shelter, or nesting for wildlife and pollinators) or require low to very low irrigation, making them ideal for a future of more extreme weather. The Arboretum sales are where I first developed my attraction to salvias.

(Side note: The next Arboretum plant sale is Saturday, April 11. Click here for information and a link to the most recent plant inventory.)

Rub the leaves of one of these sages to release its fresh, almost minty fragrance -- yes, it's part of the mint family (Lamiaceae). Salvia, incidentally, is the largest genus in that family.

Have I mentioned that hummingbirds adore the flowers? Bees, too. The big carpenter bees bend the branches but manage to hang on when they visit the plants.

So, how to care for these gorgeous plants? They like 6 to 8 hours of full sun and do best with a little shade on the hottest afternoons. They require only low water once established; good drainage is important. They generally are pest- and disease-free.

Deadheading generally isn't needed, but the shrubs can be trimmed throughout the blooming season to keep them looking tidy. Cut them back significantly in winter to encourage new growth, keep the size under control (especially with the popular 'Hot Lips' cultivar) and to remove any woody growth that lacks leaves.

Pruning is an important step that's easy to forget about these otherwise hands-off perennials. Here's a Sacramento County master gardener YouTube video on summer and winter pruning of woody sages (salvias).

I now have about as many small-leaf salvias as my garden can hold comfortably but that doesn't stop me from checking out the selection at any nursery or plant sale. There might be one I just have to have.

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Keywords:

FLIMBY Flowers in My Back Yard flowers spring March spring planting flowering shrubs garden color pollinators landscape plants plant sales UC Davis Arboretum Sacramento gardening

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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