California Salvia Plants With High Nectar
- Butterflies feed on the nectar produced by salvia.Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images
Gardeners often grow flower gardens to create a place to relax and enjoy nature. Part of that enjoyment comes from watching colorful butterflies flit from flower to flower --- but butterflies and other insects visit the garden to work. Butterflies and hummingbirds feed on nectar. Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by flowers. California salvia, or sage, plants with a high nectar content will attract hummingbirds and butterflies to the garden. - Native to California, Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii) is an evergreen woody shrub growing to 5 feet tall and wide in full sun. This shrub bears small, trumpet-shaped purple flowers that grow in round clusters throughout the summer months. Butterflies are attracted to the flower's shape and high nectar content. Cleveland sage grows naturally throughout southern California, according to California Flora.
- Autumn sage (Salvia greggii) is an evergreen shrub native to dry arid regions of the southern U.S. Growing to 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide in partial to full sun, this hardy shrub produces stalks of purple red or white flowers. These flowers are tube-shaped, with a high nectar content that draws hummingbirds to your garden. Autumn sage prefers to grow in poor, well-drained soil. Floridata warns that too much fertilizer will damage this plant. Autumn sage is hardy in United States Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 7 through 9. In cooler climates, this shrub may die to the ground at the first hard frost, but may return in the spring.
- Growing to 4 feet tall and wide, Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) bears long-spiked, fuzzy purple calyxes that almost hide a delicate white flower. These high-nectar flowers bloom from midsummer through the fall, and attract butterflies and hummingbirds. The foliage is about 6 inches long and is deeply scented, growing on long arching stems. This shrub is not frost-tolerant but is evergreen in parts of California, growing in USDA hardiness zones 8 through 10, according to Floridata. Mexican bush sage prefers full sun but will tolerate a little shade.
- Scarlet sage (Salvia coccínea) is a frost-tender perennial native to Brazil but growing throughout California. Blooming from early summer until the first hard frost, scarlet sage bears tall spikes of small red flowers. These flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds with their high nectar content. Scarlet sage grows to 3 feet tall in full shade in well-drained soil. Although it's drought-tolerant, lack of moisture will cause the amount of flowers to decrease, according to Floridata.
