Photo of the Day: Hummingbird Sage

Hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) is another native that I really like. It’s a low growing sage that spreads by rhizomes and can colonize a whole area. When a colony is in bloom, there are so many hummingbirds it can sound like a swarm of bees.

Beyond the flower and the low growth habit, one of the other things I really like about it is it’s ability to thrive under live oaks, pine and eucalyptus — all trees known for being notorious allelopaths (i.e., they secrete chemicals that make it difficult for plants to germinate and grow under them). The sages in the photo are growing under both a pine and a eucalyptus and they’re doing just fine.