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Lamiaceae
Pineapple Sage
Salvia elegans
Sweet surprise, autumn warmth, hummingbird gift.
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Genus
- Salvia
- Native to
- Mexico, Guatemala
- Bloom season
- Fall
- Type
- Tender perennial
- Height
- 90–150 cm (3–5 ft)
- Sunlight
- Full sun to part shade
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- 8–11
- Lifespan
- Tender perennial
Did you know
- Crush a pineapple sage leaf and you'll get a burst of fresh tropical pineapple aroma—identical enough to fool a blindfolded chef and the only herb that genuinely smells of pineapple.
- The plant doesn't bloom until September or October—it's a brilliant late-season hummingbird magnet exactly when migrating ruby-throats need fuel for their flight to Mexico.
- Each scarlet flower is a long tube with nectar at the bottom—accessible only to long-billed hummingbirds, who get pollen dusted on their foreheads as they probe inside.
- Pineapple sage leaves and flowers are entirely edible and widely used in Mexican cooking—the leaves season fruit salads, the flowers garnish desserts, and the brewed tea was traditionally taken for anxiety.
- There are over 1,000 species of Salvia worldwide—pineapple sage is one of the largest-flowered and most fragrant of the entire genus.
Color meanings
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sweet surprise
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autumn warmth
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hummingbird gift