Plant record
Mealycup Sage
Salvia farinacea
Mealycup sage gives blue structure without demanding much. Bees understand it immediately.
Garden timing
Start indoors 6 to 10 weeks before last frost.
Transplant after frost and after steady hardening off.
Plant intelligence
Use one square as a vertical pollinator signal that stays relatively tidy.
pollinatorbeneficial insectedge plantcontainer
Lifecycle: tender perennial
Habit: upright spiked summer annual
Height: 18-36 inches
Spread: 12-18 inches
Germination: 10-21 days
Sow depth: 0.125 inches
Bloom: summer, fall
Attracts: bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
Record score
89/100deep plant record
Taxonomy confidence94Salvia farinacea in Lamiaceae; 2 cached source references.
Square-foot usefulness861 per square with none support.
Timing and care depth922 planting windows, 60F minimum soil, 2 cautions.
Species and variety drill-down882 variety or cultivar options attached.
Annual flower intelligence90high pollinator value.
Source readiness82Ready for 4 external lookup paths.
Species identity
This record is anchored to a stable botanical name, then adjusted for square-foot garden decisions.
ScientificSalvia farinaceaFamilyLamiaceaeLookup namesMealycup Sage, Salvia farinacea, annual blue salvia, mealy sage
Garden decision matrix
Square-foot fit1 per square
Season behaviortender
Care loadmoderate water
Bed ecosystem rolepollinator, beneficial insect
Variety depth2 options
Species and variety notes
Victoria-type strains are compact and predictable; taller types need more room.
Victoria Bluecultivar
100small-bed fit
The practical square-foot salvia for a controlled bed.
Best use: cut and garden display. Tradeoff: match timing and spacing to the rest of the bed.
compact, blue spikes, pollinator80-100 days18-24 inches tallEvolutionseries
86small-bed fit
A compact series with strong color and less sprawl.
Best use: cut and garden display. Tradeoff: match timing and spacing to the rest of the bed.
deep violet, compact, container friendly80-100 days16-24 inches tallCompanions
tomato, pepper, basil, zinnia
Cautions
Slow from seed.
Deadhead or shear for repeat bloom.
External enrichment
Cached name: Salvia farinacea. Optional lookups can compare GBIF, iNaturalist, Perenual, and Trefle without changing the reviewed garden record.
Open enrichment JSONData layers
FVF reviewed cachecachedSpacing, timing, variety, companion, and FVF notes used by the planner.
GBIF and iNaturalistlive no-keyNo-key taxonomy, common-name, and community context checks through the enrichment route.
USDA PLANTS downloadsreferencePeriodic identity, distribution, native status, and conservation reference layer.
Perenual or Trefleoptional keyOptional species images, care data, cultivar/synonym cleanup, then cache only reviewed fields.
API source score
Perenual API88/100optional key: Flower and ornamental drill-down, plant photos, care flags, toxicity, bloom data. Limit: Requires an API key and plan-aware caching, so it should enrich records without blocking the app.
Trefle API84/100optional key: Scientific names, subspecies, varieties, hybrids, synonyms, and broader botanical cleanup. Limit: Requires a token and should be treated as a reviewed import layer, not a live page dependency.
USDA PLANTS downloads82/100download cache: Standard names, plant symbols, distribution, native status, and conservation flags. Limit: Best consumed as periodic downloaded data instead of one-off runtime requests.
GBIF Species API78/100live public: Accepted scientific names, synonyms, family/genus cleanup, and occurrence context. Limit: Not a gardening advice source; pair it with local square-foot growing data.
iNaturalist taxa API72/100live public: Common-name discovery, taxon IDs, and regional biodiversity context. Limit: Observation data is not the same thing as garden suitability or crop timing.
USDA PLANTS Database
Plant identity, taxonomy, nativity, and conservation flags.
Source referenceGBIF Species API
Accepted scientific names, taxonomy matching, and occurrence context.
Source reference