Little Spire Russian Sage growing happily in front perennial border
I have the Russian Sage variety “Little Spire” or (Perovskia atriplicifolia) planted in our front perennial bed in an area of full sun. It is an exciting new variety of the Sage family and is a semi-woody perennial with fragrant silvery foliage, lavender purple flowers and an open branching habit. I chose Little Spire because regular Russian Sage often falls over when you have a bad storm and then it just looks bad. Since we always have a few of those big storms each summer, I purchased the shorter variety of Russian Sage and hoped that it would not fall over and need to be cut back.
Well “Little Spire” has been growing in my garden for about 5 years now and it has yet to fall down and not spring back up after the storm passes. Little Spire grows about 3 feet high with a plant spread of about 12-18 inches at its base and about 3 feet at the widest point. It likes full sun and will tolerate dry soil but does need to be planted in a well-drained area of the garden. Little Spire is vigorous and very hardy, ignoring heat, drought and pests, while always looking fresh. It is resistant to deer, attracts butterflies, has attractive winter foliage and does best in zones 4-9. It is an elegant airy plant that makes a great specimen and I think that its lavender purple flowers work especially well with whites and yellows and with other gray foliage.
Little Spire is very carefree. In spring you simply prune it back to about 6″ before new growth starts. The plant then fills out and begins to bloom in July and looks great the rest of the year. I always leave Little Spire stand in the garden for winter interest and it looks great even in the snow. I think that Little Spire is just a beautiful plant and it has become one of my favorites!