Pineapple Sage (Salvia elegans) Overwinters in Newark, Delaware

June 5, 2011 - PRLog -- Pineapple sage, Salvia elegans, is a plant native to high-altitude montane forests in central America.  This plant grows in its natural environment as a perennial woody shrub, but can be grown in colder climates, including USDA Hardiness Zones 8 and 9, as a perennial that dies back to the ground and resprouts with each season.

Pineapple sage has a light, pleasing aroma, and makes a delicious herbal tea.  It is used in traditional Mexican herbal medicine for a variety of uses, and there has been some scientific evidence backing its use to treat anxiety and depression.

This winter, a pineapple sage plant has successfully overwintered in Newark, Delaware, far north of its supposed hardiness range.  The plant was planted in a sheltered location, on the south side of a building, near enough to the building that it was able to receive some heat from the building.  A moderate amount of mulch was applied to the base of the plant in the fall.  The plant survived the winter, resprouted in early May, and was growing vigorously by the end of May.

More info and a photo for verification:

http://cazort.blogspot.com/2011/05/pineapple-sage-overwin...

# # #

Alex Zorach's tea blog is a personal tea blog from the creator of RateTea.net. This blog is a place for musings and any writings of a more personal nature that are tea-related but outside the scope of individual tea reviews on RateTea.net.