Rewilding My Lot

Lyreleaf Sage (Salvia lyrata) is a hardy low-growing plant that can tolerate a variety of conditions (wet, dry, sun, shade!), and it spreads gently by clumping or self seeding. It’s evergreen and I like the interesting pattern of its leaves with the red veining. Purple blooms appear in the spring.

I introduced this plant here by transplant in fall 2023 from the Park West pollinator garden where I volunteer — we were clearing out some excess plants so I brought a couple home. The first photo in this post is of one of those original plants.

Those transplants have done well here and I noticed that there were several nearby babies that have grown from seed produced by the original plants. Here’s one close to a rain barrel platform.

I’m still working on filling in space around the pond that was installed here in November 2024, and I thought that Lyreleaf Sage would be a nice addition to that area, especially in front of the pond where I don’t want anything tall to block the view.

So one morning I did a quick transfer of six small Lyreleaf Sage plants into ground around the pond (the damp patches in the photos below). They were so small that the process was quick and easy. I’ll need to water them initially to establish them — we have not had much spring rain and there is none forecasted in the foreseeable future.