Azure Blue Sage, Salvia azurea, A Tall Sage With Beautiful Blue Flowers

This member of the Lamiaceae or Mint family can grow to 5 feet tall. The shape of the the sage flower is distinctive. The color of its petals can be deep blue, light blue, to almost white. The surface of the plant is covered in fuzzy hairs. The margins of the narrowly lanceolate leaves are entire or broadly toothed. This hairy perrenial can be found in dry calcareous soils throughout the state. They can easily be mistaken for mealycup sage, Salvia farinacea, but close examination of the tube formed by fused sepals will clarify which specimen you are viewing. If the sepal tube beneath the flower is green and not covered with dense white hair, you are looking at Salvia azurea, Azure Blue Sage. Both species of sage produce flowers from mid-spring to late fall.