Pozo Blue Sage

Pozo Blue Sage

By Jackie Woods  UCCE Master Gardener

Planting areas:  does well in alkaline soil, clay and sand; tolerates seaside conditions.

Size: can grow 3-6 feet tall and just as wide.

Bloom season: blooms for about 6 weeks starting late spring.

Exposure:  full sun.

Pruning needs: if desired, can be cut back late fall to reduce size.

Water needs: very drought-tolerant once established.

Narrative:  Pozo Blue Sage is a perennial natural hybrid founded by the late, great native plant specialist Bert Wilson of Las Pilitas Nursery.  Named for the stage coach stop town of Pozo, California, Pozo Blue is a cross between Salvia clevelandii and Salvia leucophylla.  With aromatic grey foliage and amazingly fragrant violet-blue flowers on long spikes, Pozo Blue is highly attractive to bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, and even sphinx moths. California quail love using this sage for cover as well as for eating its seeds.  Pozo Blue sage adapts to different soil types from clay to beach sand.  Plant 4-5 feet apart in full sun for ideal fill-in and water until established.  This sage is very drought-tolerant and can tolerate cold to 5 degrees Fahrenheit with little damage.  In a mass planting, Pozo Blue is a magnificent sight and the fragrance is truly incredible.  Companion plants that complement this beautiful sage include California buckwheat, yarrow, ceanothus, manzanita as well as other salvias.  Cut a few flowered spikes for a fragrant bouquet or use spent, dried spikes in dried flower arrangements and wreaths.  Plant a few Pozo Blue sages, sit back and enjoy not only its wonderful fragrance but all the fauna that the gorgeous flower spikes will attract.