For some plants, bolting, flowering, and producing seed is a bad thing for the gardener.
Unless they’re saving seed, that is.
Everyone dreads finding out that their lettuce or spinach has started to bolt; every year, we risk encountering bolted greens when spring arrives.
Bolting is commonly associated with woody tubers, bitter greens, and reseeding. It can ruin an entire spinach crop.
But, does sage become a useless plant once it blooms? Is it inedible?
You might be surprised!
Today, we’re going to learn a bit about sage during its flowering process, what we can do with it, and what to do after it flowers.
I’ll also share why I love allowing my sage to flower, and what the benefits are!
When Do Sage Flowers Bloom?
Sage tends to bloom when the weather begins to warm up. For most of us, that’s during spring. My sage did not flower in its first year, either; it did during its second year. For those in colder climates, it may not flower until late spring or early summer. The plants seem to begin putting out a flowering stalk when the temperatures reach the upper 70’s and lower 80’s.
What Do Sage Flowers Look Like?
As you can see from the images, sage produces a beautiful bluish-purple flower that appears in clusters along a flowering stalk. The buds can be seen below. Before flowering, you will see a flowering stalk appear, complete with green buds. These flower buds will become quite large before flowering, signaling that the plant has bolted. When it does flower, you are in for a magnificent treat- it truly is a stunning herb!
Truthfully, it’s a dual purpose plant for the landscape garden. It puts on a stunning floral display while providing an attractive, edible, fragrant foliage. other herbs, such as Chamomile, are perfect edible landscaping, as well.
Why Is My Sage Flowering? Should I Let My Sage Bloom?
The warmth of spring initiates reproduction among plants and animals, as there will be an abundance of warmth, moisture, sunlight, and food; the perfect conditions to nurture new life. This is why so many plants flower in the spring, including sage.
When the conditions are right, sage begins flowering in order to produce seed. While sage is a perennial that can be propagated through cuttings and layering, it is still a good idea to allow at least one plant to go to seed so that you have fresh seed stored away in case your plants fail.
You cannot be too careful, and sage seed can go bad quickly (even though I managed to get an excellent germination rate out of 7 year old seed!) Sage is also one of the extremely profitable herbs for a homestead to start and sell, as we discussed previously, so your flowering plants could help with generating revenue. In addition, pollinators will greatly benefit from your sage blossoms- you can enjoy the beauty of your sage blooms along with some of the local bees and butterflies. If nothing else, this warrants growing more sage just for the bees!
If you are planning to harvest all of your sage soon, you may decide to remove flowering stalks to preserve flavor. Flowering stage will not be as strong as sage that hasn’t bolted; but this is one of the only negative traits of flowering sage. Sage is one of the most heavily used herbs in our kitchen, and it is an exceptional herb to have on hand; I consider it to be one of the most important herbs to learn to grow to complement the Top 10 Crucial Crops Every Homesteader Needs to Learn to Cultivate. It’s hard to imagine a lot of meals (especially dressing or chicken!) without this aromatic herb.
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Can Sage Flowers Be Eaten?
So we know that sage flowers are beautiful, and that the bees and butterflies love them; but now for the million dollar question:
Can sage flowers be eaten???
Absolutely! There are many uses for sage flowers! I will cover these a bit further down, but rest assured that you can eat them. Whether you want to go the salad route or have a cup of tea, you can use them!
Can You Eat Flowering Sage Leaves?
When sage flowers, the biggest repercussion is a less potent leaf. In other words, your sage plant will not taste as strongly as it did before flowering. You may need to use more leaves in order to achieve the strength of aroma that you are looking for. This generally isn’t an issue at the time of flowering, as the plant is usually putting out lots of new growth simultaneously.
Uses for Sage Flowers
Now for the fun part of this post; we’re going to put those flowers to good use!
There are several different ways that you can make use of sage flowers, so let’s check out some of my favorites:
- Using sage flowers for floral ice cubes
- Adding sage flowers to salads
- Cutting sage flowers for a bouquet
- Garnishing baked goods, drinks, cupcakes, and more
- Attracting bees and butterflies
There are other uses that I’ve not taken advantage of, though. These include:
- Making tea with the blooms
- Using the flowers in soap
- Pressing and drying them for crafts
How to Prune Flowering Sage
Whether you’re trying to prune sage before or after flowering, you need to ensure that you handle the plant carefully.
For those who would like to prune flowering sage (or the plant before the blooms appear), locate the flower stalks and cut them. These will be the stalks that have buds or blossoms, they usually don’t have leaves growing from them. Keep an eye on the plant, as it may send up another flower stalk; you will want to cut it as well. Leave the rest of the plant intact.
For sage plants that have already flowered, you’ll prune the stalk once the blooms die down. If you are planning to save seed, wait until the seed head dries before harvesting the seeds; prune the flower stalk after harvesting them. You may choose to remove many of the bigger leaves as well, to stimulate fresh growth.
