Golden Delicious pineapple sage is colorful and fragrant.
Golden Delicious pineapple sage sounds, well, delicious. We aren’t talking fruit, but the most luscious sage on the planet.
Golden Delicious pineapple sage made its debut about 15 years ago and has steadily climbed in popularity, winning awards across the country. You’ll know why once you grow it. Merely brushing up against the leaves will leave you in a state of olfactory euphoria.
The fragrance of the leaves also constitutes the flavor for drinks, jams and cream cheese. To add to the wow factor is the plant’s golden chartreuse hue, the hottest color in the garden. Everything looks better partnered with Golden Delicious.
In the fall, it sends out brilliant red blossoms that bring both hummingbirds and butterflies. These blossoms are edible, too, if you are so inclined.
My favorite garden usage is as a pocket or filler plant in mixed containers. But I am also using pineapple sage in the landscape, where the plants are like golden lanterns growing with cupheas and blue salvias.
The pineapple sage is known botanically as Salvia elegans and is native to tropical Mexico and Guatemala. Despite this natural proclivity for the tropics it does very well in the United States as an annual or as a perennial in zones 8 and warmer.
Though I have seen the pineapple sage in full sun, I think it is a happier plant in morning sun and afternoon shade. As mentioned, the soil must be well-drained. And remember, the key to the green thumb is how brown it gets first in soil preparation.
Plant pineapple sage in raised beds, or amend heavy, tight soils with the addition of compost or humus.
While preparing the soil, incorporate 2 pounds of a slow-release fertilizer, like 12-6-6 per, 100 square feet of bed space. Space the plants 24 inches apart, planting at the same depth they are growing in the container. They can reach 36 to 48 inches in height
Remember to give supplemental water during prolonged dry periods. In the fall, once the plant has received frost damage, prune to the ground and give an added layer of mulch for protection. You might want to take a few cuttings in the fall before the frost damage has occurred.
Then in the spring, feed your salvias with a light application of fertilizer with the emergence of growth and continue feeding every six to eight weeks through September. You may wish to pinch prune leaves a couple of times to maintain bushiness. Harvest the young tender foliage early in the morning if you want to use leaves for flavoring.
In the landscape, the pineapple sage is wellsuited in the herb garden, tropical garden, cottage garden and the backyard wildlife habitat. In addition to the Golden Delicious and the Proven Winners Rockin’ Golden Delicious, you may also find the typical greenleafed form.
Regardless, it’s the leaves that are always a treat, yielding aroma and flavor as if you had just opened a can of Del Monte Crushed Pineapple. The ruby-throated hummingbird relishes the nectar in the scarlet flowers as much as the culinary artist will enjoy using the leaves to flavor drinks and cream-cheese spreads.