Description
Clary Sage (Salvea sclarea) is a perennial plant with squared hairy stems and long hairy leaves. It comes from the mint family (Lamiaceae) and is famous for its heavy essential oil that imparts a floral scent with herbaceous notes and everything that speaks of the earth. It is a seed-grown plant, available in a 3.5” pot.
What key elements are required to establish optimal conditions for growing Clary Sage successfully?
The three most important things you need to know about growing Clary Sage is water, light and soil. When you first receive the plant best thing you can do is find a spot that has full sun. If you are growing in containers, you can always move the plant.
Clary Sage does best in well-drained, sandy soil, if you are growing in a pot, potting mix is a fine alternative.
Familiarize yourself with the growth potential of Clary Sage. Providing 12-18 inches of space between plants is essential, considering they can expand to 12-24 inches in diameter and stand up to 18-36 inches tall.
The flowering season of Clary Sage is often summer, but be aware that it might not bloom until its second year, depending on planting timing.
What is Clary Sage good for?
Historically, Clary Sage has been renowned for its hormonal balance, stress relief, with inhalation, infusion crafted from its leaves, flowers to harness its medicinal properties.
It is a USDA hardy from growing zones 5-9 and is commonly known as clary, clary wort, and eyebright.
About Clary Sage
Clary Sage is an herbaceous perennial that hails from the mint family Lamiaceae. Its fruity, floral scent has garnered the attention of both aromatherapists and flower essence makers.
Its soothing scent is beneficial for menopausal symptoms and other menstrual irregularities due to its remarkable estrogenic properties. Its antibacterial property proves to be quite fruitful in dealing with skin infections that emerge due to Staph. aureus. Its notorious fragrance is loved by the perfume industries where they perform steam distillation of clary sage flower tops to extract its scent-filled components.
How to use Clary Sage
Clary sage can be used to formulate:
Tincture: Chop freshly harvested clary sage leaves and macerate in alcohol for 4 to 6 weeks. Then strain away the plant material to obtain a highly concentrated tincture.
Tea: Dry the clary sage leaves in the dehydrator and steep them in hot boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes to make a steaming cup of calming tea.
Decoction: Save the seeds of clary sage and decoct them in water to form a mucilaginous decoction.
Salve: Clary sage essential oil is paired with peppermint essential oil and stirred in beeswax to form a salve.
Syrup: Dry the clary sage flowers and leaves in a dehydrator and simmer them in a sugar solution to make a syrup.
Infused oil: Clary sage leaves and olive oil are paired together and allowed to sit in a dark place for 3 weeks with intermittent shaking to create clary sage-infused oil.