Family Lamiaceae.
Garden Origin.
Received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
- Exquisite dusky-purple flowers bloom from summer to autumn.
- Forms a compact mound of dark, evergreen aromatic stems and foliage.
- Easy to grow in poor soil in full sun, drought-tolerant once established.
The Bush Sage ‘Nachtvlinder’ in Your Garden
An intense, richly coloured burst of delicately formed dusky-purple flowers makes a striking, refined, dark impact. Salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’ forms a small, compact shrub, its near-black aromatic branches arching outwards, protecting their blooms in a dramatic cascade. An irresistible fast-food fly-through for all pollinators.
Remaining evergreen in mild winters, it is hardy in southern and coastal UK gardens. Elsewhere, cover with a mulch of straw for winter or grow in pots, returning to an unheated greenhouse for winter. This all-summer purple flowering shrub loves coastal Norfolk and Suffolk’s seaside climates, reaching 1m high and wide in 2–5 years.
Its multitudes of velvety-looking tiny flowers make great viewing close-up, where its aromatic scent can also be enjoyed. Its chic colours are perfect for modern outdoor living spaces in Norwich’s contemporary gardens. Easy to grow in pots, it is equally suited to traditional Aldeburgh-style terraces and dry Mediterranean gravel gardens.
Growing Tips for Your ‘Night Butterfly’, Salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’
- Soil and Sun: Plant in well-drained soil; full sun is essential.
- Set in spring or autumn; summer planting requires extra attention to watering. Plunge for 20 minutes to drench the root ball before planting. Do not add compost or improvers to soil.
- Watering: Moderate once established; tolerates drought once rooted, water sparingly.
- Pruning: Remove dead stems in spring before new growth appears.
Few plants add such a flamboyant, yet dark and exotic display to planting schemes. It makes stunning contrasts with silver Mediterranean species and complements paler blue and lilac perennials in mixed borders. An aromatic, pollinator-attracting, intensely floriferous all-summer purple flowering shrub, it makes an essential addition to all styles of garden.
Planting Ideas for the ‘Nachtvlinder’ Bush Sage
Be moody and mysterious, make a smouldering mass of dark and dusky blooms and foliage. With a prevalence of black and purple, the addition of some naughty bright colours has a big impact. Add a backdrop of Sambucus ‘Black Tower’ and ‘Eva’, Albizia ‘Summer Chocolate’, Physocarpus ‘Diabolo’, and Pseudopanax ferox. Add Cornus ‘Kesselringii’ and Pittosporum ‘Tom Thumb’ to mid-border positions.
Continue the darkness at a smaller scale with Armeria ‘Rubrifolia’ and Cosmos ‘Chocamocha’ and Salvia ‘Oriental Dove’. Then set it all alight by adding Kniphofia ‘Nobilis’, ‘Alcazar’, and rooperi. Hemerocallis ‘Bonanza’ and ‘Frans Hals’ complete the heat.
