PINAPPLE SAGE (SALVIA ELEGANS)

Salvias really hit their stride in fall.

Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) is absolutely breathtaking right now and has been for at least six to eight weeks. Golden pineapple sage is even more glorious because of its beautiful bright yellow foliage.

But that’s not all. This lovely salvia is a very useful herb as well as a garden knock-out. Gently rub its leaves and inhale the pineapple fragrance, it will make your mouth water. What a plant — showy as well as useful. What more can I say?

Pineapple sage is usually an ordinary green plant with spikes of bright red flowers, but color the foliage bright yellow, decorate it further with bright red flowers, add a luscious scent and, voil￠, you have an outstanding plant to give your garden a very loud “last hurrah.”

These salvias are big and will root wherever a branch touches the ground. We have established this plant as a beauty with all sorts of magnificent attributes, but she is big! If you want a big splash of yellow and red all fall in your garden and you will not mind that it can get 5 feet by 5 feet, this plant is for you. Place this salvia in sunshine and surround it with purples or blues and just try to keep hummingbirds and butterflies away.

Use the lovely red flowers in fruit salads or lemonade for a splash of color and a slight pineapple flavor. Steep leaves and flowers in a cup of green tea for a blast of flavor, or just sit and enjoy the color and all the insect and hummer activity around it. Pineapple sage freezes to the ground every winter, but emerges in spring adding this beautiful burst of bright lemon color all summer before bursting into red blooms in fall.