Grow and Care for Jerusalem Sage

Grow Jerusalem sage in full sun and soil that drains after rain. Tags may also say Phlomis. It is not culinary sage.

Give it full sun and soil that drains after rain

Jerusalem sage is a mint-family ornamental for a dry, sunny bed. Woolly leaves rot when the crown sits wet through winter. [1] Shade makes floppy, leggy stems. Once it is established, extra water is optional — a soak in a long hot spell is enough.

Pair it with other dry-sun Mediterranean plants

Partners should want the same sun and sharp drainage: ornamental grasses, rosemary, and other low-water shrubs. Leave a path so you can cut spent stems without trampling neighbours.

Plant at pot depth after frost, or in early fall

Plant a nursery start after frost in spring, or in early fall with enough weeks for roots to take. Set the crown at the same depth it grew in the pot.

1. Pick full sun and ground that drains after rain.
2. Dig a hole as deep as the pot and a little wider. Do not bury the crown in a compost collar.
3. Set the plant at pot depth, backfill with the soil you dug, and water to settle.
4. Space shrubby kinds about 3 to 4 feet apart so the mound can fill. Carpet kinds can sit a little tighter.
5. Water through the first weeks, then taper to drought-lean once new growth takes.

Grow a compact kind in a pot that drains

A pot works for compact woolly kinds if it is at least about 12 inches across, with drainage holes, and a gritty mix that dries between waterings. Empty the saucer after rain. Full sun still applies. Ground is easier than a small bowl that stays wet.

Divide a carpet clump in spring, or take a softwood cutting

Herbaceous carpet kinds divide in spring. Shrubby kinds root from a softwood cutting in summer.

1. For a carpet clump, dig it when the soil is workable and not waterlogged. Split pieces that each have shoots and roots, and replant at the same depth.
2. For a shrub, take a softwood cutting in summer, strip the lower leaves, and stick it in a sharp, draining mix. Keep the mix barely moist until roots take.
3. Seed also works for the species, but named compact forms are usually cloned.

Cut after bloom for more flowers, or cut woody stems in winter for size

A light cut as the first yellow whorls fade can bring another flush if you water a little. Woody kinds also take a harder winter cut for size. Carpet kinds can keep their seed heads through winter, then you clean the dead top as new leaves emerge. [2]

1. As the first flush fades, snip spent stems lightly if you want more bloom. Water moderately after that cut.
2. After the last bloom on a woody shrub, cut stems back by about half if the plant has outgrown the spot. Winter is the usual time for that size cut.
3. On the herbaceous carpet, leave the brown seed heads for winter structure if you like them. In spring, pull off the dead foliage as new growth starts.
4. Do not shear it like a hedge. Cut back to a pair of leaves or to the woody frame — not into old bare wood that has no buds.

Not culinary sage — and not Jerusalem artichoke

Culinary sage is Salvia. Jerusalem sage is Phlomis. The leaves look sage-like and felted, but they have no kitchen aroma or taste. Do not cook from this plant, and do not copy a sage-herb watering or harvest calendar onto it. [3]

Jerusalem artichoke is Helianthus — a sunflower relative grown for tubers. It is not this genus. A tag that says Turkish sage is the herbaceous carpet Phlomis, not a second kitchen sage.

Shrubby yellow, Turkish sage carpet, or woolly compact

Culture is the same sun and drain. Habit is the choice. Do not treat a shop list of twenty names as a different plant. [4]

shrubby yellow is the classic 3 to 4 foot yellow shrub — evergreen in a mild winter, dying to the ground in a cold one with the roots still alive. Turkish sage is the herbaceous carpet: heart- shaped leaves, pale yellow whorls on tall stalks, rhizomes, and seed heads that hold through winter. woolly Jerusalem sage is a shorter woolly shrub; ‘Pygmy’ is the compact lanata for a small pocket. Italian Jerusalem sage is a warmer-zone pinkish form with the same sun and drain. tuberous Jerusalem sage is a taller summer stack on lean ground — not a sunchoke vegetable.

Set it in full sun, plant at pot depth, cut after bloom or in winter for size, and read the tag so you did not buy culinary sage.