Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
THE URBAN GARDENER
You can still enjoy gardening even if you’ve only got a window box. Here, Constance Craig Smith shows you how to grow your own sage
WHY GROW IT? Sage is one of the easiest herbs to cultivate, and ideally suited to container growing. As well as making an attractive garden plant, its velvety leaves are an essential ingredient in stuffing for chicken and other poultry dishes, and delicious sprinkled in pasta or stews.
WHEN TO PLANT You can grow it from seed in spring, or buy it now as a young plant from a garden centre and grow it indoors on a sunny windowsill, then plant it out in warmer weather.
VARIETIES The common form, Salvia officinalis, has grey-green leaves and pretty blue flowers in summer. S. o. ‘ Purpurascens’ has leaves tinged with purple-grey, and a milder flavour than common sage. S. o. ‘Tricolor’ has foliage streaked with pink, white, purple and green, while that of
S. o. ‘Icterina’ is gold, cream and white. S. elegans and S. microphylla are great for flavouring ice creams and custards but aren’t winter-hardy.
HOW TO PLANT IT Fill a container with quality compost, making sure there is plenty of drainage material at the bottom. Water sparingly, and only when the soil feels dry to the touch. Place in the sunniest spot you can. A mature plant can be left outside all winter.
AFTERCARE Sage tends to get rather straggly and unshapely after a few years but is easy to take cuttings from – simply pinch the leaves off with your fingers.
SUPPLIERS www.pepperpot herbplants.co.uk, www.crocus.co.uk