Russian sage

Value to bees

Nectar

Very high

Pollen

Moderate

As a honey crop

Not a honey source

Which bees, and why

Worked heavily through late summer, and one of the more reliable plants for bumblebees in a hot dry August. The woolly stems also attract wool carder bees, which scrape hair from the foliage to line their nests.

Small two-lipped flowers with a short tube, accessible to a wide range of bees.

Worth knowing

An outstanding late nectar source over a long season, and reliable in drought when many border plants have stopped.

Flowering

In flower

July to October (northern hemisphere)

A long late-summer to autumn season.

Growing it

Conditions

Full sun with sharp drainage on poor dry soil. It is extremely drought-tolerant and rots in heavy wet ground.

Size

90-120 cm tall.

Native range

Central Asia — Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tibet — on dry stony slopes.

Suits

Small gardens, Large gardens, Containers and window boxes

• Cut back hard to a low framework in early spring, not autumn — it flowers on new wood and the dead stems protect the crown.
• Poor dry soil produces better plants than rich soil, which makes it floppy.
• Excellent in gravel gardens and hot dry corners where little else will flower in August.

What it looks like

Upright white woody stems with finely cut aromatic grey-green leaves, carrying an airy haze of small lavender-blue two-lipped flowers over a long period.