Pozo Blue Sage in Early Bloom

This is Salvia Pozo Blue (Salvia clevelandii X leucophylla) a hybrid of two So Cal natives, Purple Sage and Cleveland Sage. I picked it up about two years ago from La Pilatas Nursery, a native plant specialist not too far from here.

It’s leaves resemble the Cleveland Sage’s leaves, but they’re spaced farther apart on leggy stems like the Purple Sage. The smell is a woodsy must akin to the Cleveland Sage. I like the plant because it makes a nice green shrub that requires no care other than a little water now and then.

From mid-winter to mid-spring it’s covered with these pale lavender flowers the bees and hummingbirds find irresistible. This one is just starting to flower now, which is a little early. All the rain we got in the last few weeks must have convinced it that it’s February.