Salvia ‘Smoothie’ (africana): A small tough, hardy shrub from Sth Africa 1mH for full sun with pale blue flowers for coastal and hot dry positions.
Salvia ‘Smoothie’: A chance sport of Salvia africana.
Flowers: seem to be the same as the parent; prolific sky blue flowers with, a green ribbed calyx. Flowering from spring until autumn.
Leaves: begin, by looking like the parent with hairy lobed leaves, but these soon change with maturity to small smooth, leathery leaves with entire edges with a pointed tip.
Salvia ‘Smoothie’: has small leathery green leaves, very smooth with entire edges, so it clips very well in to small hedges, balls or even squares. Grown as a hedge they are often used to protect other smaller plants and groundcovers in the foreground.
If not growing this Salvia as a hedge, then grow it in the middle of the bed as part of a mass of shrubs behind smaller perennials.
This species like so many of the other Sth African Salvias are tough and hardy for those hot, dry summer months as well as being winter and frost hardy. Salvia ‘Smoothie’ has beautiful blue flowers, making a wonderful display when flowering in summer. The mass of flowers really attracts the bees, butterflies and other insects.
To grow this plant well, it needs full sun and good drainage, although it’s generally not fussy about soil. It’s perfect for coastal conditions, for those hot spots or positions where nothing else will grow. As it is easy to grow, it is often used in these difficult positions.
When pruning, either clip as a hedge or cut down to a good new shoot whilst cleaning out the shrub of dead and twiggy stems.
Propagation: only by cuttings, which are easily taken most of year.