Permaculture Plants: Perovskia, Russian Sage! Food, Medicine, Beauty and more....

This plant is amazing! I wanted to write about Perovskia, or Russian Sage, just because it is so stunningly beautiful, but once I started looking into its other properties I was blown away.

As you can see, it makes a great landscaping plant with its long silvery-green stems and lavender flowers. In wintertime, the stalks turn white and are an off-season feature. It has a sagey fragrance and the pollinators love it. There are honeybee hives across the street from the clumps in these pics and they have an absolute PARTY in there! It perhaps looks best grown in large swaths and almost looks like a colorful ornamental grass.

It grows about 3' tall in summer, and spreads slowly by rhizomes, so can be divided. It's hardy in zones 4-9, not too fussy about soil and conditions but will do better with sun, heat and water. It's low maintenance - we deadhead it in winter, and cut it back once more before spring growth takes off to keep in a bit contained.

A quick bit of research suggests this plant has many uses and is under appreciated as a multi-function permaculture plant. The flowers are edible, and the plant is most often used medicinally as a fever reducer, flu reliever and analgesic. I haven't tried it yet! The flowers can be used to make dye, and apparently it also has phytoremediation potential - can you imagine something so lovely removing toxins your soil?! As its aromatic nature suggests, it also can be used as a pest deterrent and can be bundled into smudges and dried flower arrangements.

Perovskia is an easy choice simply for its aesthetic qualities but with a list like that I definitely want to get to know this plant better. If you have some personal experience with it, please leave a reply.

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