Chicken simmered in broth and white wine,with lemon, crispy sage leaves, polenta chips with parmesan, and a salad of arugula , pear and candied walnuts.
Last edited by shiny on November 12, 2026. View history
Sage
A variety of salvia
How to sow sage: Direct seed indoors, harden seedlings off before transplanting outside.
Sun requirement for sage: Plant in Full Sun
Sage is an evergreen shrub with woody stems, soft green-gray leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. It is in the Mint family (Lamiaceae), and is perennial in Zones 4-8. It can be used fresh or dried, and has culinary and medicinal uses.
- 50
- plantings
- 21
- harvests
- 2
- seed packets
Sage facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
60cm × 50cmRow Spacing
30cmDays until maturity
80–90 days median of members' seed packetsGrown for
leaf harvested 19 timesCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For sage, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 120 days at its best temperature, about 1860 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your sage will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing sage
- Dig grit into heavy soil 1 week before planting out
- Water until established at planting out every week
- Pinch out the tips to keep it bushy 6 weeks after planting out
- Pick leaves regularly at first harvest every week
- Trim after flowering 3 months after first harvest
- Take cuttings to replace woody plants 12 months after planting out
How members grow sage
Sunniness
Planted from
Harvested for
Plant sage with
Photos
Sage crops
Sage plantings
Sage harvests
Video
Where sage grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about sage
Who's planted sage
- doitninetimes Backyard raised bed · Austin, TX
- Skud Thornbury side garden · Ballarat, Victoria,...
- wrdnrd Canterbury — Deck · UDistrict, Seattle,...
- piranha Front Garden · East Coast, Central...
- abbz Sandy bed · Sydney
Sage harvests
-
shiny harvested not specified.
almost 7 years ago
-
shiny harvested not specified.
about 7 years ago
-
shiny harvested not specified.
over 7 years ago
Find sage seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 120 to 240 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Salvia officinalis
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Lamiales Labiatae |
|---|---|
| Life form | sub-shrub |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about sage
Resources outside Growstuff.