How to Grow and Care for Texas Sage

Texas Sage Care

Here are the main care requirements for growing Texas sage:

• Plant it in any type of light condition. It can even brighten up a shade garden.
• Plant it in well-drained soil.
• Water the plant until it is established.
• When grown as a perennial, cut it back after the growing season.

Light

Texas sage grows in all light conditions, from full sun to full shade. Its ability to do this makes it an indispensable addition to a garden allowing a landscape designer to add bright splashes of color in any area and even tie together separate areas with different light conditions with a single species of flower, creating a more unified design.

Soil

Unless you have sopping wet soil that requires you to put on your rain boots whenever you
venture to the garden, your soil is pretty much good for growing Texas sage. It will easily grow in sandy, loamy, and clay-rich soils as long as it is well-draining.

Water

Texas sage requires only moderate watering and can withstand long periods of dry weather without suffering too much. Water your plants daily until established. If you live in an area that receives regular rain, supplemental watering isn’t necessary once the plant has established itself.

Temperature and Humidity

Texas sage thrives in the warm climates of the coastal southeast. It prefers hot summers and humid to dry conditions and will not tolerate the cold. Texas sage is hardy in USDA zones 9 and 10 and will reseed readily in zones 6 to 8, but is usually grown as an annual in cooler climates.

Fertilizer

There is no real need to add supplemental fertilizer to Salvia coccinea. It should flower profusely
on its own, but if it does not, test your soil to see if a phosphorous deficiency is your issue. If that is the problem, find a fertilizer with a high phosphorus content in the NPK formula and give it a shot.

Types of Texas Sage

Here are a few common cultivars of Texas sage that are available in the nursery trade that may suit your needs a little better than the native variety.

• Salvia coccinea ‘Snow Nymph’: a smaller cultivar with 24-inch tall plants that produce white blossoms
• Salvia coccinea ‘Lady in Red’: profusely flowering cultivar that often self-sows
• Salvia coccinea ‘Coral Nymph’: a tender cultivar that has bicolor flowers of white and deep pink blooms on globular formed plants.
• Salvia coccinea ‘Summer Jewel Pink’: cultivar with compact growth and early-blooming light pink
• Salvia coccinea ’Summer Jewel Red’: cultivar with compact growth and early-blooming red flowers

Pruning

The plant will need to be cut back after its season to allow new spring growth. In areas where it is annual, you will just remove and replant as needed and wanted. In the lucky zones that it self-sows, make sure to shake seeds out from your plant or collect the seeds you want before cutting your Texas sage back, so it comes back for you next year.

Growing Texas Sage from Seed

It is easy to propagate Salvia coccinea from seed, and in many areas, the seed for the plant will be much easier to find than live plants. To start:

1. Place your seeds in warm moist seed starting mix indoors in bright light six to eight weeks before the last frost.
2. Move plants outdoors for a week after the threat of final frost.
3. Transplant outdoors after final frost when plants are about four inches tall.

Potting and Repotting

Texas sage can be grown in containers. Make sure the pot has large drainage holes and fill it with well-draining potting mix. Place it in a location with dappled light. As all container plants do, it will need more water than in the landscape.

When grown as an annual, it does not require repotting. Perennial plants should be repotted in a larger container with fresh potting mix when their roots have filled the pot, or grow out of the drainages holes.

Overwintering

In its native habitat in Mexico and the southeastern United States, Texas sage grows as a perennial. In a warm climate, it does need any winter protection. Below Zone 9, is is grown as an annual.

Your salvia should be bloom profusely without any issue, but if it is lagging a bit, don’t worry. A flowering plant such as Texas sage can benefit from a boost of phosphorus to kick its blooming into high gear. If it is still not producing abundant flowers, it may need extra water or just extra time! It will bloom, be patient.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Luckily S. coccinea does not suffer from too many problems or pests but can occasionally be hassled by mealybugs and aphids. Also, if you do not provide proper spacing and airflow, your plants may develop powdery mildew. To minimize this risk, be sure to divide plants when it self sows and trim back when it becomes overcrowded.

How to Get Texas Sage to Bloom

Bloom Months

Texas sage typically blooms from early summer to the first fall frost but in a warm climate, it can bloom any time of the year if it reseeds, which it does easily.

How long does Texas Sage Bloom?

The plant has a long bloom period that lasts several months from the beginning of summer all through the fall.  It reblooms every year; however, Texas sage is considered a short-lived perennial with a lifespan of about five years.

What does Texas Sage Flowers Look and Smell Like?

The bright red flowers of about 1 inch in length grow in whorls along the upright stem. The flowers are moderately fragrant with a sweet smell.

How to Encourage More Blooms

Texas sage withstands drought but the plant will bloom more profusely if it gets watered during dry spells. Deadheading the spent flowers also encourages more blooms.

Caring for Texas Sage After It Blooms

After the plant is done blooming, which is usually after the first fall frost, cut it back all the way to the ground. It is important to dispose of the foliage because the plant might have powdery mildew; if you leave it on or near the plant, it can reinfect the plant with the disease next year.

Deadheading Texas Sage Flowers

Deadheading helps to keep Texas sage blooming but be careful not to remove any flower buds— the flowers in a whorl do not open all at the same time but gradually, which makes Texas sage such a long-blooming plant.