I thought I was so crafty a few years ago when I saw this blue-flowered beauty growing along the road near my house. I watched and waited, hoping the County would not mow the right-of-way before the seeds were ready for collection. One day, when I tapped a flower stalk against my hand, tiny black seeds spilled out. I went on to collect a teaspoon or two of seeds of Lyreleaf Sage (Salvia lyrata) and headed home with my prize, hoping at least a few would sprout in my wildflower bed. I wasn’t disappointed. The seeds easily germinated and began to grow leaves. Then they grew and spread and grew and spread until there are thousands of individual plants around here.
Though it didn’t turn out to be a timid and uncommon wildflower, as I originally assumed, I applaud the plant’s exuberance. It’s nice to have a perennial that grows with abandon, blooms throughout the season with little to no care, and feeds pollinators as well. Over all, lyreleaf sage has a similar look to ajuga and can be used as a heartier, long-lived perennial.
Lyreleaf sage is in the mint family (Lamiaceae) which explains its success at spreading. Though it has no discernable scent in the leaves or flower, the square stems easily identify it as a mint. It tolerates sun or shade, but blooms more prolifically in more sun. Thriving in wet or dry conditions and poor soil or rich, it is easy to include in the landscape as a flowering groundcover.
The flower spikes reach 12” to 18” in height, but the rest of the plant is a basal rosette of “lyre” shaped leaves. (A lyre is a kind of lap harp. Think cherubs.) It will grow from seed or from transplants. Because its leaves are held close to the ground, it can be walked on and even mown to remove the spent flower stalks—just don’t set your mower blade on the lowest setting.
Spikes of faint blue flowers appear in March and bloom heavily into May. Inch-long tubular flowers have two larger, lower petals, and three smaller upper lobes. When an insect lands on the landing pad formed by the lower petals, the anthers inside are tipped and dump pollen on the pollinator. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds will pull up for a sip, then carry pollen to the subsequent flowers they visit.
Lyreleaf sage will continue to bloom sporadically through summer, and may have a short flush of flowers in autumn. Once the flowers are spent, the spike remains to produce seeds. The spikes have a pink-ish tinge and are kind of attractive in their way. They can be left in place or cut. If you want the plant to spread, leave the stalks uncut until the seeds have been shed.
If you look into the cup where the flowers were attached, you’ll see 1-4 shiny seeds in there. They are green currently, but will turn black as they ripen. Tap the flower stems over your palm or a container to catch seeds when they are ready, if you want to spread the plant or share the seeds with a friend—just caution your friend about the tendency of the plant to spread.
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