Japanese name: トリカラーセージ Scientific name:Salvia officinalis ‘Tricolor’
[Overview]
A horticultural variety of sage.
The whole plant is aromatic.
The stem is tinged with red and has 4 ridges; it branches well, and the base becomes woody.
Leaves are simple and opposite, oblong, with many wrinkles on the surface, and have red-purple to cream-colored variegation on a green ground.
The leaf stalks are long.
Whorled cymes are borne at the stem tips.
[Uses]
The leaves contain essential oil and medicinal components, and like sage can be used as a spice.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division or cuttings.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, well-ventilated place.
In poor light it may become leggy and weak.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
It is hardy, but weak against high temperature and humidity in summer; if the plant becomes stuffy, the inner and lower leaves may die, so thin out crowded branches to improve ventilation.
To overwinter it outdoors, give protection from the cold, for example by laying straw around the base of the plant.
