Salvia Aurea (aka Golden Sage)

An easy care, drought tolerant, evergreen sage with showy and unusual flowers sure to be a garden standout

Salvia aurea with its rust-colored flowers in early spring

Salvia aurea, also known as golden sage (salvia), beach sage, or dune sage is a medium-sized (3 to 4 ft / 1 meter) evergreen shrub native to the dry, coastal regions of the South African cape.

Growth Habit

Most of the year it’s a fairly compact plant with small, gray-green leaves that make it a nice backdrop or landscape plant for smaller flowers and shrubs. It doesn’t have a strong, woodsy scent like other sages, but its flowers are quite the show stopper.

Unlike other members of the salvia family, which tend to bloom in shades of blue, purple, or red, Salvia aurea blooms in a rusty, reddish orange color. Starting in early spring the plant puts out flowers that start out yellow and turn to their rust color over a few days. Unlike other sages which bloom all along the length of the stem, the golden sage’s flowers are clustered in pairs at the end of the stem. The flowers will last for several weeks and the plant itself flowers throughout the spring providing a showy display for several months.

A closeup of the flower of a Golden sage

Sun, Soil & Water Requirements

As a native to South Africa, which has a dry, desert-like climate very similar to ours here in San Diego and the southwestern U.S. (as well as the Mediterranean basin and southern Australia), golden sage is well adapted for USDA zones 8 and up and thrives in full sun as well as partial shade.

This Salvia aurea plant lives in dry soil under a Jacaranda tree

It prefers sandy or rocky soil and is very drought tolerant, requiring water only when the soil is completely dry. Also, unlike some of our native sages, Salvia aurea doesn’t drop its leaves in the summer, remaining a nice gray-green shrub even in the driest, hottest conditions.

Propagation

While Salvia aurea is a tad difficult to grow from seed, it’s very easy to propagate from cuttings. Simply pinch off a stem below a leaf node and place it in some moist sand for a few weeks. You’ll know its rooting once you see new growth. Give it a couple more weeks to get well established, and it’s ready to transplant.

Conclusion

If you enjoy an easy growing, water wise plant that looks great in the garden, you should definitely give Golden sage a try. Not only is it a great foundation plant all year long, but the unusual rust-orange blossoms make it a center of focus throughout the spring.