Although a great fan of standard sage (Salvia officinalis) and also of the flowering salvias, I didn’t know about pineapple sage (Salvia elegans, for an updated post click here) until I saw a scrawny cutting in the $2 section of a nursery last Spring. Now, I’m really glad I got it. It’s a fine looking plant with added flavour benefits.
That little plant has taken off and is now filling a corner of the nascent herb garden. I was hesitant to pick from it while it was getting established, but now a trim will help it stay compact.
The tips make a nice herbal tea, light, aromatic and sweet. I wouldn’t say it smells or tastes ‘really like pineapple’ as I have read, and I think the alternative name of tangerine sage is just as descriptive of the scent, so if you can imagine a cross between the two fruits…. Individual cultivars might differ though.
I haven’t used it in food yet, but the taste is so light, and the leaves so pretty, that I can imagine it will be great as a garnish for a lot of dishes, sweet and savoury.
There’s one more thing going for it; it has red flowers in the Autumn. Mine has just started and is making an eye-catching splash of colour amongst all the green. As it is supposed to grow to 1.5 metres, it should fill the back of the herb bed beautifully.