6 Vibrant Pink Salvias Chosen By Award-Wining Garden Designers
Chris is a gardening writer and nature enthusiast. He graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2022 with an MA in Psychology. Chris works with the Leeds Green Action Society, helping their food cooperative by growing various fruit and vegetables on their two allotments in Hyde Park, Leeds.
Reviewed By COLIN SKELLY
Colin is a Horticulturist and Horticultural Consultant with experience in a range of practical and managerial roles across heritage, commercial and public horticulture. He holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture award and has a particular interest in horticultural ecology and naturalistic planting for habitat and climate resilience.
Contributions From ISABELLE PALMER
Isabelle Palmer, AKA 'The Balcony Gardener', is an award-winning garden designer who specialises in container growing and designing in small spaces. She has designed spaces for Anthropologie and appeared on numerous TV shows such as Love Your Garden. She has also published multiple books on balcony gardening, houseplants and succulents.
Lachlan Rae is a Horticultural Consultant and Garden Designer who runs his own Garden Management company. He has appeared as a judge on the TV show Garden of the Year on More4 and was awarded The Young Horticulturist of the Year award in 2017 by the Chartered Institute of Horticulture. Lachlan trained in Botanical Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.
IN THIS GUIDE
Salvia is a showy plant that produces spikes of gorgeous flowers that are tubular in shape, and their square stems and velvety leaves make them instantly recognisable.
“Salvias are one of my favourite late summer flowering perennials,” says Colin Skelly, a Master Horticulturist.
“They can often flower well into early autumn and decline gracefully as mellow autumn foliage starts to appear and fall. A great resource for late pollinators and great to look at for us too!”
If you’re interested in growing this flower in your garden, then you’ve got a wide variety of colours to choose from, with pink being among the most popular.
“I love salvias because they are so easy to grow,” shares Garden Designer Isabelle Palmer.
“They came up at the beginning of spring and are still there in my borders now. There are so many different types too and they are a real study and beautiful plant to grow.”
In this article, we will take a look at some of our favourite pink salvia varieties to help you add a touch of romance to your garden.
“I’m also absolutely mad for salvias and I have been collecting these plants for a while,” shares Designer Lachlan Rae.
“There’s one that I’ve got at the moment which I love called Salvia involucrata ‘Boutin’ which is a hybrid and is absolutely fantastic.”
All of these varieties flower in summer and autumn and should be growing in chalk, loam or sand-based soil.
1) S. ‘Wendy’s Wish’
- COMMON NAME(S): sage ‘Wendy’s wish’
- HARDINESS RATING: H3
- SUNLIGHT: full sun
- EXPOSURE: sheltered
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
This herbaceous perennial produces deep pink flowers from midsummer to autumn.
This variety of salvia has red stems, fragrant olive-coloured leaves and grows to around 1m in height.
‘Wendy’s Wish’ will do its best in full sun or dappled shade in a sheltered spot that has humus-rich, well-drained soil.
In springtime, I’d recommend adding a 5-10cm layer of mulch around the base of the plant to help it thrive.
This species of salvia doesn’t require any pruning but you can remove fading flower stems to encourage prolonged blooms.
2) S. ‘Mulberry Jam’
- COMMON NAME(S): sage ‘mulberry jam’
- HARDINESS RATING: H3
- SUNLIGHT: full sun
- EXPOSURE: sheltered
- SIZE: 1-1.5m in height, 0.5-1m spread
This bushy and compact variety of salvia grows to around 1.2m in height and sports pink blooms from summer to autumn.
The leaves are small and scented and their green hue really makes the flowers pop.
‘Mulberry Jam’ is tolerant of drought but will grow best in full sun with moist, well-drained and moderately fertile soil.
You will want to overwinter these plants, ideally in a greenhouse, away from the grips of frost.
3) S. nemorosa ‘Sensation Rose’
- COMMON NAME(S): Balkan clary ‘sensation rose’
- HARDINESS RATING: H7
- SUNLIGHT: full sun
- EXPOSURE: exposed / sheltered
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
This pretty, pink salvia is a bushy, upright perennial with greyish-green leaves and tightly packed spikes of hooded, pale-pink blooms.
This variety grows up to 1m tall and takes around 2-5 years to reach full height.
While the ‘Sensation Rose’ can tolerate partial shade, you will see the best results by planting it in full sun and in moist, light, humus-rich and well-drained soil.
4) S. ‘Kisses and Wishes’
- COMMON NAME(S): sage ‘kisses and wishes’
- HARDINESS RATING: H3
- SUNLIGHT: full sun
- EXPOSURE: sheltered
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.1-0.5m spread
This adorably named species of salvia is an upright, woody perennial that will usually grow to around 75cm in height.
It sports delicate, tubular, pale-pink flowers with dark pink streaks that bloom from early summer to late autumn.
To get the most out of your ‘Kisses and Wishes’ salvia, you will want to plant them in a warm, sheltered spot, with lots of sun and moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil.
As autumn draws to a close, you can either leave this plant where it is and treat it as an annual or overwinter it in a greenhouse.
5) S. greggii ‘Icing Sugar’
- COMMON NAME(S): autumn sage ‘icing sugar’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- SUNLIGHT: full sun
- EXPOSURE: sheltered
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
This bushy variety of salvia grows to around 65-70cm in height and produces terminal racemes of bi-coloured bright pink and purple blooms which blossom from summer to autumn.
‘Icing Sugar’ requires light, fertile soil that is well-drained in a sheltered spot.
It will overwinter if provided with full sun and soil that drains well.
Rosemary beetles, leafhoppers and slugs and snails are quite partial to the new, young growth of this plant, so keep a watchful eye on it and use organic solutions if necessary.
6) S. greggii ‘Strawberries and Cream’
- COMMON NAME(S): autumn sage ‘strawberries and cream’
- HARDINESS RATING: H4
- SUNLIGHT: full sun
- EXPOSURE: sheltered
- SIZE: 0.5-1m in height, 0.5-1m spread
This delicious-looking salvia is a shrub variety and grows to around 60-75cm in height.
It has pleasantly scented, ovate green leaves and little 1.5cm wide flowers which bloom in pale pink, dark pink and cream from summer to autumn.
Not only does ‘Strawberry and Cream’ salvia sound delicious, but they are actually used in culinary pursuits as a herb.
This species of salvia needs plenty of shelter from cold, drying winds and prefers full sun.
Plant it in light, well-drained soil.
These are just some of our favourite pink salvia plants to inspire you – in such a varied genus there are many more available!
