When you talk about sage, you usually mean the popular garden sage (also called spice sage). In our overview we present the best garden sage-Splaces.

The leaves of the sage variety 'Tricolor' are particularly beautiful.

In addition to the numerous types of sage, you can usually find varieties of garden sage (Salvia officinalis) in the local gardens. The variety ranges from vigorous to compact, from unicolored to multicolored, to varieties that do not flower at all.

Is garden sage hardy?

Before you rush to buy a sage, you should find out about the characteristics of the respective variety. Because sage is easy to plant, but many of the varieties offered in garden centers are just as quickly destroyed during a harsh winter. Some of the goods on offer come from wholesalers in France, Italy or Spain. Garden sage varieties are also cultivated there, which do not tolerate our climate. Be careful with the multicolored varieties such as 'Tricolor' or 'Purpurascens'. The disappointment is great when the plant, which has grown so beautifully, does not survive the winter. Therefore, multicolored sage should be cultivated and overwintered in pots. In wine-growing regions, these varieties can also be planted out in a sheltered spot. Protection with brushwood or fleece is still necessary.

Garden sage varieties for the kitchen

All types of garden sage are actually suitable for cooking. However, if you want to have the most intense aroma possible, the 'Extracta' variety is particularly good. The sage varieties 'Berggarten' and 'Windeck' have very broad leaves and save a lot of work and time when preparing food. If you want to use sage for smoking, you can use very aromatic and slightly resinous varieties such as 'Extracta' or 'Nazareth'.

Many types of sage are suitable for use in the kitchen.

The best garden sage varieties

The following overview is intended to give an introductory insight into the respective suitability of the variety of spice sage:

Compact Garden Sage:

  • Alba: White-flowering sage variety with quite compact growth; also forthe bucket attitude well suited; intense, pleasant aroma; slightly bitter.
  • Berggarten: sage variety with large, broad leaves; therefore ideal for preparing s altimbocca or similar; very good aroma; quite compact growth.
  • Nana Alba: Like Nana, only with white flowers; pleasant aroma; good for pot culture.
  • Nana: As the name suggests: very compact variety with small, narrow leaves; ideal for culture on the balcony.

Normal to vigorous garden sage:

  • Crispa: sage variety with a very special look: the leaves are quite wide, downy and clearly ruffled at the edges; very good aroma.
  • Extracta: Breeding with a very high content of essential oils; particularly intense in taste and also suitable for smoking; Since you only need a few leaves for seasoning, one plant in the garden is usually sufficient.
  • Nazareth: Very downy and silvery variety from Israel; Leaves are oblong, narrow; very good, intense aroma.
  • Non-Flower: Anyone who does not grow sage as an ornamental plant, but only to harvest the leaves, should fall back on this variety. This does not form flowers and can put all the energy into the formation of shoots and leaves. Flavorfully aromatic and very good.
  • Rosea: A particularly beautiful variety with pink flowers; Quite small leaves for a cultivar, but with a sweet aroma.
  • Windeck: Similar large leaves and good aroma as Berggarten, but more vigorous; rather unsuitable for pot culture; but very good aroma and ideal leaf size for processing in the kitchen (S altimbocca, etc.).
Characteristic purple sage flower

Garden sage with variegated leaves:

  • Creme de la creme: variety of sage that is creamy-white variegated, especially on the edges of the leaves; bicolor: cream white - green.
  • Aurea: well-known sage variety, which is often also referred to as golden sage; golden-yellow to green-yellow variegated leaves; good taste.
  • Purpurascens: Leaves of higher and younger shoots are purple; later these become green-grey; beautiful appearance, good taste, but similar to the Tricolor variety only partially hardy.
  • Tricolor: variety with a particularly beautiful leaf appearance: the leaves are variegated white-green, with the leaves on the higher shoots in particular turning purple to pink. Needs a very well protected location in Germany as it is less frost tolerant than othersVarieties.

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Herbs