Japanese name: コバルトセージ Scientific name:Salvia reptans
[Overview]
A perennial about 90 cm tall, growing in its native habitat in dry grassland and gravelly places.
The stems are slender, numerous and branched.
The leaves are simple and opposite, lanceolate to linear.
Verticillasters form at the stem tips.
The flowers are cobalt blue and lipped, with a large, spreading lower lip.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings of shoots or by division.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, well-ventilated, rather dry place.
With poor sunlight it may become leggy and weak, and flowering is also poor.
Take care not to let the soil become too wet; for potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries, and for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
In spring and autumn, apply slow-release fertilizer placed on the soil.
Cut off flower spikes that have finished blooming.
Cutting back several times before flowering also helps prevent the plant from becoming stuffy in the summer heat and humidity, and the side shoots that grow out increase the number of flowers.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
