Plant Encyclopedia

Group/Class:  Fashionista Collection

Brand:  Walters Gardens

Description:

An attractive compact variety with a dense, upright habit, producing impressive spikes of fragrant, deep blue-violet flowers; an excellent garden performer on the cutting edge of perennial fashion

Ornamental Features

Fashionista® Midnight Model Sage has masses of beautiful racemes of fragrant blue tubular flowers with violet overtones rising above the foliage from late spring to early summer, which emerge from distinctive deep purple flower buds, and which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its tomentose narrow leaves remain green in color throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Fashionista® Midnight Model Sage is an herbaceous annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant. Trim off the flower heads after they fade and die to encourage more blooms late into the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Fashionista® Midnight Model Sage is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Fashionista® Midnight Model Sage will grow to be about 16 inches tall at maturity extending to 24 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 22 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 16 inches apart. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Fashionista® Midnight Model Sage is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.