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How to Grow Sage Plants: The Complete Guide

Sage is a useful herb that can be easily grown in your garden.

Botanical Name
Salvia officinalis
Plant Type
Herb
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Soil pH
Slightly Acidic to Neutral
Bloom Time
Summer
Flower Color
Pink
Purple
Hardiness Zone
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Special Features
Attracts Butterflies

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Sage

Catherine Boeckmann
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Garden sage is easy to grow—and a wonderful culinary herb! How do you use sage? Flavor meat and bean dishes (including that Thanksgiving stuffing!). Mix into salads! See how to plant, grow, and harvest sage.

About Sage

Sage is a hardy perennial with pretty, grayish-green leaves that are as good in a perennial border as they are in a vegetable garden. It grows spikes of spring flowers in different colors, including purple, blue, white, and pink. According to Rosie Lerner from Perdue, “If left to flower, sage will produce blue blooms that attract butterflies, but this leaves less oil content translating to reduced flavor in the leaves.” See more flowers that attract butterflies!

Note: Not all sage varieties are culinary; the most popular kitchen sage is called Salvia officinalis. The origin of the salvia name speaks to this herb’s age-old medicinal value from the Latin salvus “to save” and salvere, “to heal”. Sage contains antioxidants that help reduce the risk of serious health conditions like cancer. It’s also rich in vitamin K, which aids the body in clotting blood.

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Planting

How to Plant Sage

  • Plant sage in full sun.
  • Sage should be planted in well-draining soil; it won’t tolerate sitting in wet soil.
  • The easiest and best way to start sage is from a small plant. Set the plants 2 feet apart.
  • You can also sow seeds up to two weeks before the last frost date. (See local frost dates.) Plant the seeds/cuttings in well-drained soil 1 to 2 weeks before the last spring frost.
  • For best growth, the soil should be between 60º and 70ºF.
  • Plants should grow to be between 12 and 30 inches in height.
  • In the garden, plant near rosemary, cabbage, and carrots, but keep sage away from cucumbers.

Growing

How to Grow Sage

  • Be sure to water the young plants regularly until they are fully grown so that they don’t dry out. They’ll need a consistent moisture supply until they start growing quickly.
  • Prune the heavier, woody stems every spring.
  • It’s best to replace the plants every few years so they remain productive.
  • You can grow sage from cuttings!

sage plant

 

Varieties
  • ‘Berggarten’, a robust plant with very large silver-gray leaves
  • ’Tricolor’ sage, for a bit of color in the garden (yellow, mauve, and sage green)
  • ‘Icterina’ has green leaves with yellow edges

'Tricolor' sage

Harvesting

How to Harvest Sage

  • Pinch off leaves or snip off small sprigs from the plant.
  • During the first year, harvest lightly to ensure that the plant grows fully.
  • After the first year, be sure to leave a few stalks so that the plant can rejuvenate in the future.
  • If fully established, one plant can be harvested up to three times in one season.
  • Stop harvesting in the fall so the plant can prepare for winter.

How to Store Sage

  • Sage’s flavor is best when fresh, but it can be stored frozen or dried.
  • To dry, hang sprigs in a shady, well-ventilated area and allow them to air dry, waiting until the leaves crumble easily to store in tightly lidded jars.
  • Sage keeps its flavor better if stored in the freezer. Freeze leaves or stalks on a tray, then move the leaves into a zippered bag or container. Some cooks blend the leaves with oil, pack the ground mixture into ice cube trays to freeze, and then transfer the cubes to a container.
Gardening Products

Pests/Diseases

Wit and Wisdom

  • Anyone who has sage planted in their garden is reputed to do well in business.
  • Susan Mahr of the University of Wisconsin–Madison tells us, “Sage is often mentioned as the herb of immortality, domestic virtue, health, and wisdom. Sage was a sacred ceremonial herb of the Romans. It has been cultivated for both culinary and medicinal purposes for many centuries in Europe.”
  • For other greens to use in your cuisine, see the Leafy Greens: Health Benefits page.

Recipes

Ravioli in a Sage and Brown-Butter Sauce
Bagged Roast Turkey With Cornbread, Chestnut, and Sage Stuffing
Sage Butter

Cooking Notes

A great way to incorporate the healing benefits of sage is “Sage Butter.” With two ingredients and five minutes, you have an amazing herbal butter that’s wonderful on sweet potatoes, chicken, tossed vegetables, fried eggs, toast, popcorn, and whatever you wish!

In the video below, herbalist Patty Sanders shows us how to make sage butter—and also talks all about the healing benefits of sage. 

Herbs
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

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Comments

I took cuttings of my sage and rosemary and arranged them in a vase on my kitchen window sill...I had mysterious black dusty flecks also. I assumed the cuttings were dying and falling apart. But after looking closely I noticed a worm eating my plants! The flecks were what I assume were it's waste. Not sure if it's the same thing but the description of the flecks sound exactly the same...

I have the same issue in Maryland. Mine is outside, did you ever figure out what this was?

Hi, Katie, Sorry for getting back you so late.

This could be Southern blight (you did not indicate your home area). You can learn more about it and what to do here: https://extension.umd.edu/learn/southern-blight 

Or it could be foliar nematodes: click here then scroll to page 7 (this is a large doc): http://www.hort.vt.edu/ghvegetables/documents/Herbs/PestManagementonHerbs_UConnUMass_2011.pdf

That’s about all of our “sage advice” in this case. Hope it helps!

Cheryl (not verified)

9 years 2 months ago

I was growing a sage plant in the UK for a year, then over winter I moved to Spain and wanted to take a few cuttings with me. I have now been here for a year and the cutting is still the same size as it was when I brought it here. It gets new leaves, which are very tiny, but dry out and fall off without getting normal size. What am I doing wrong?

Jeff Grady (not verified)

7 years 10 months ago

Check the PH of your soil and the water you most commonly feed the safe plants ASAP. Sounds like the soil might be too alkaline for the sage plants. When the PH is too high (alkaline) like your's may be, it will generally stunt the growth of plants completely and cause leaves to turn brown and fall off. Happened to several species in my garden after I moved into my new house. I discovered we had hard water (high levels of calcium, lime and other dissolved minerals that cause alkalinity in the water and subsequently the soil) and so now I only feed my plants collected rainwater through two 65 gallon food safe barrels I purchased for $45 a piece. They are fed by bypass lines on my home's gutter downspouts which were under $30 and easy to install with a saw and a screwdriver. Using rainwater has saved my garden and my money.

BobH (not verified)

9 years 4 months ago

I have 8 sage plants that have been growing from seeds under four 40 watt (supposedly 200 watt equiv) CFLs in a closet on a 18/6 light cycle. They are 83 days old, and I have been harvesting individual leaves for a few weeks now. They are all between 12 and 18 inches tall.

Should I modify the light cycle or do anything else to simulate winter, or can I just continue them on an 18/6 light cycle indefinitely? Should I ever move them under my HPS grow light to simulate a fall or winter sun?

There is very little information out there about growing sage indoors under artificial lights. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Maggie marr (not verified)

9 years 5 months ago

i have two nice Sage plants in pots sitting on my front porch. What can I do to keep them through the winter. Plant in soil outside? Will they be able to sit out all winter? Should I bring them into my livingroon, there is not much sun and very dry?
I would like to keep them through the winter if I can. I live in the Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee.

BRANDI (not verified)

8 years 10 months ago

Hi Maggie,
I have a lovely sage plant I planted in a flower pot a few years ago its still there it has wintered over all this time, even through a rather cold winter a couple years ago, I live in coastal Va. hope this helps

Hi Maggie,

Sage is winter hardy and will survive outdoors. You can plant it in the garden and add some mulch around the stems if you like. Sage is evergreen so you may be able to harvest leaves during the winter months. If the leaves die back it will shoot up new growth from the roots in the spring.

Amy Dawn Berger (not verified)

9 years 5 months ago

I planted several sage plants; however, I have discovered they are too close to my front porch after all the bees came this year. While the bees tend to stay on the flowers, I think it might be better to move the plants to another location in my yard. I started these plants from seeds and planted them in early spring this year. When is the best time for me to try to move the plants to another location?