Sage

Sage (Salvia officinalis) is probably best known as the herb for stuffing.  In addition to stuffing, sage is great in pasta sauce, sausages, breads, and with vegetable such as carrots.  Sage dries easily especially in my dry climate. Sage can also be frozen for later use.  Depending on the weather you may be able to harvest some fresh sage for your Thanksgiving stuffing.

Sage, Salvia officinalis

Sage grows as a small shrub and attracts bees to its beautiful blue flowers.  In addition to the typical sage as pictured above, sage also comes in other varieties and colors including Golden – with leaves splashed with golden yellow, Purple – leaves of purple and green, and Tricolor – leaves of white, green, and purple. 

Golden Sage

Golden, Purple Sage, and Tricolor Sage all have the same scent and flavor as typical culinary sage.  Planting them can add more diversity to the landscape.  The leaves can be used as a garnish or to add color to appetizers.

Tricolor Sage

Purple Sage

Their relative, Pineapple Sage Salvia elegans, is a tender perennial which I grow in a pot and bring inside over winter.  As the name suggests, the leaves have a pineapple scent and flavor which goes well with fruit drinks and fruit salads. Pineapple Sage also has a brilliant red flower. Other than Pineapple Sage, the sages mentioned are drought tolerant.

Pineapple Sage, Salvia elegans

Bush Cherries

Bush cherries are cherries that grow on a shrub or bush instead of a tree.  There are several types of cherries with the common name of bush cherry including Sand Cherry (Prunus x cistena), Hansen's Bush Cherry - also sometimes called Sand Cherry (Prunus bessyi), Nanking Cherry (Prunus tomentosa), Prunus cerasus X Prunus fruiticosa, and Prunus japonica x P. jacquemontii.  That last one is the only one I have tasted the fruit from so far.

Bush cherries can be grown as a hedge, windbreak, or as a single shrub in situations where you may not want a cherry tree.  Their cherry-like fruit may not be recognized by the passerby as an edible fruit and so if planted along a sidewalk you may not have the fruit picked by others without permission. The bush cherries I planted ripen later than tree cherries and so a crop may not be lost due to weather or birds.

The fruit of Prunus japonica x P. jacquemontii is red like Montmorency tart cherries and has a simliar flavor and size.  At my house they ripen around the first part of August.  My two shrubs purchased by mailorder from Hartmann's Plant Company are about 1' tall and are producing a small amount of fruit.  Their mature size is 4 x 4' when they will be producing a few pounds of fruit. A minimum of two bushes of different varieties should be planted.

Bush cherries vary in mature height from 4' up to 10' or more.  Flavor, color, size, and harvest time and quantity will also vary.  Some would be better used for jams than fresh eating.  Bush cherries may also keep birds away from other fruit in your yard that ripens at the same time. Bush cherries are something you may want to consider in place of non-edible shrubs in your yard.

Bush Cherry in Spring

              

Bush Cherry beginning to show Fall color