Pineapple Sage

~Pinapple Sage ~

(Salvia Elegans) Is pumping right now & buzzing with bees. Honey bees, bumble bees, other beneficial insects, this plant is a bee magnet in the garden.

 Not just the bees, it’s a kid magnet too! The flowers are full of sweet tasting nectar which you can suck out the back. I once showed a friends very young kids how to do this in their garden, and we didn’t see them for a few hours. Next time I was outside I discovered that they had picked and sucked every single flower from the Pineapple Sage!! Be warned!

 Pineapple Sage is one of the first plants I've planted in every garden I've had. I take a cutting from my old house & pop it straight into the ground at the new garden, it's ridiculously easy to strike from a cutting (like all of the sage (salvia) family). I prune it back low after flowering and each year it bushes out bigger than before. The flowers go nuts in autumn/winter brightening up the garden with it's extremely bright red flowers and providing amazing bee food through Autumn & Winter.

 If you’re planting just one plant for attracting beneficial insects during the cooler months + brightening the garden + providing hours of entertainment for kids, this could be it!

 Not only is Pineapple Sage good for the garden, it's also lovely in a medicinal tea. Pineapple sage is rich in vitamin K, A, C, & B6. It also contains manganese, dietary fiber, potassium, folate & the red flowers are a rich source of antioxidants.

 It's native to Mexico where it's traditionally used for anxiety, depression & mental fatigue. It’s also been used historically to combat insomnia, lower blood pressure, and treat anxiety and nervous system disorders.

 I finely slice the leaves into a mixed wild salad, including fruit salads, add leaves to herbal teas & baking, and use the flowers for decoration in salads & baking. You could experiment adding it to cocktails, infusions, syrups, jams, jellies, marinades and sauces – it has a very unique and lovely scent & flavor profile.

 Don't be fooled by the name, it doesn't taste like Purple or White Sage at all, and yes, it does have a slight pineapple scent, especially when you rub it between your fingers, which is where the common name ‘Pineapple’ comes from.