Cedar Sage
Salvia roemerianaCedar Sage is a perennial native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–2 ft tall and 1–2 ft wide. It wants part shade to shade and very low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms red in Mar–Aug. Deer rarely browse it. Good for butterflies and hummingbirds.
Will it grow in your yard?
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From our guide
Village of the HillsLow perennial with scalloped leaves and scarlet flower spikes in spring, adapted to the leaf litter under juniper and oak.
Why it works here
One of very few red hummingbird flowers that blooms in real shade — solves the dry-shade-under-oaks problem.
Watch out
Wants shade. Full sun will cook it. Reseeds gently, which is usually welcome.
The facts
6 sources- Type
- Perennial
- Sun
- Part shade to shade (under 6 hrs)
- Water
- Very low
- Height
- 1–2 ft
- Spread
- 1–2 ft
- Bloom
- Mar–Aug · red
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Soil
- Takes caliche and clay · recorded on calcareous, dry, limestone, rocky, sand, well drained
- Deer
- High — deer rarely browse it. Aromatic foliage
- Wildlife
- Supports butterflies and hummingbirds
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
2,367 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.
also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.