Pineapple Sage

Pineapple sage is grown for its late-season display and extraordinary pineapple-scented foliage — a large, bushy tender perennial that waits until late summer to produce its brilliant scarlet tubular flowers, just as most other garden plants are winding down. Hummingbirds are drawn to it reliably. In Zone 6b, grow as an annual or overwinter cuttings indoors.

The scarlet flower spikes are beautiful in late summer and autumn arrangements where bold colour is needed. The foliage, pineapple-scented when crushed, adds fragrance if included. Take cuttings in late summer before frost to overwinter, and plant out again after last frost the following spring.