round to ovate, with a length of 3.5 to 6.5 mm. Cultivation Salvia spathacea is easy to grow in the garden, and is a very useful groundcover for dry shade under oaks. Unlike other California native sages, it spreads from underground rhizomes. It will also grow in the open, in ordinary garden soil, in part or even full sun. Supplemental water can help encourage a longer flowering season, but a late summer rest from watering is desirable. As the alternative common name suggests, it is used by feeding hummingbirds and will attract them to the garden. Deer and gophers generally leave this strongly aromatic plant alone. It easily propagates by seeds or rhizomes. Seeds should be collected as early as possible, or they can be predated by insects. S. spathacea can get powdery mildew, which can be treated with a spray of milk diluted in water. Several cultivars exist although some selections are stronger than others. One showy cultivar is "Confetti," which has both yellow and pink flowers on the same plant. The more robust cultivars include "Powerline Pink," with magenta to crimson flowers, which will grow in hot sun, even inland, and "Avis Keedy," which has light yellow flowers. Salvia spathacea has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. References Averett, Deborah Engle; Neisess, Kurt R.; Jepson Manual treatment for Salvia spathecea. Jepson Flora Project Interchange, Regents of the University of California. Bornstein, Fross, and O'Brien, 2005. California Native Plants for the Garden. Cachuma Press External links Calflora Database: Salvia spathacea (hummingbird sage) Jepson eFlora—TJM2: Salvia spathacea Salvia spathacea — U.C. Photo gallery spathacea Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Plants described in 1892 Flora without expected TNC conservation status