Salvia Tomentosa

A very lovely plant making beautiful rosettes of hairy, silver-grey leaves from which arise in spring, square-section stems, with dividing heads of large pale blue-lilac flowers. This rarely-seen plant is very hardy, down to Z5-6 in the USA but demands a dry place in the garden or a large pot in the winter. It is native to eastern Europe and across Western Asia, and ascends the mountains of Turkey up to over 2,000 metres where it is found in company with Pinus brutia, Pinus nigra and Quercus pubescens in macchie, on limestone or igneous slopes. The leaves are still used as a condiment as a strong tea is made from the plant. In fact, in England this tea used to be preferred to that of all other sage teas!