Pineapple sage is an ornamental herb that I like to include in my container arrangements. It also looks really striking in a garden, especially if it grows to its full size. This edible, shrubby herb can grow up to five feet tall and two to three feet wide! Following a few simple tips for pineapple sage care will ensure a healthy plant that will eventually produce those tubular, red flowers that butterflies, hummingbirds, and all kinds of bees love.

Pineapple sage’s slightly fuzzy, oval-shaped leaves release a strong pineapple fragrance when rubbed. Some of the same chemical compounds which give pineapple sage its aromatic punch also confer potential health benefits for us. It also has proven antioxidant properties.

So, whether you’re looking to add some extra nectar plants to your wildlife habitat or you’d like a slightly fruity new culinary herb to play with, this is a stunning herb to add to your herb collection.

What is pineapple sage?

A member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) grows wild in parts of Mexico and Guatemala. This fragrant herb features deep red blooms and woody stems. There are a few different varieties of pineapple sage. They all offer some slight differences in leaf and flower color, plant scent, and overall size. Interesting cultivars to look for include:

• ‘Golden Delicious’: A more compact grower with yellow-green, pineapple-scented foliage, ‘Golden Delicious’ will grow to about two feet high with a roughly 30-inch spread. It puts out bright red flowers in late summer.
• ‘Tangerine’: Similarly compact, this variety also produces red flowers; however, its foliage has a tangerine-like flavor and scent. ‘Tangerine’ can tolerate some partial shade and flowers earlier than ‘Golden Delicious’.
• ‘Honey Melon’: Another compact, earlier bloomer, ‘Honey Melon’ features scarlet blooms and Salvia elegans’ sweet pineapple scent.

Finally, although you may occasionally find pineapple sage seeds for sale, starting this herb from seed isn’t ideal, because it can take a couple of years for new seedlings to become large and well-established. Instead, you’re better off purchasing nursery-grown pineapple sage plants, which you can then propagate by rooting cuttings.

Ideal growing conditions

Want to provide the very best pineapple sage care? Find a spot in the garden with well-drained soil that gets mostly full sun. (To optimize the flavor of your pineapple sage, position the plants so that they get a combination of morning sun and afternoon shade.)

Pineapple sage care basics

Whether you plan to grow your plants directly in the herb garden or in pots, good pineapple sage care starts with good soil. For superior drainage, amend the soil in outdoor garden beds with organic matter, such as compost, worm castings, or leaf mold.

Growing your pineapple sage in a pot? Make sure your container has plenty of drainage holes and choose a well-draining potting mix.

When to plant pineapple sage

Although most pineapple sage plants can withstand temperatures down to 20°F (-6°C), they do like it hot. That means you should plant pineapple sage outdoors only after your area’s last average frost date has passed.

Also, if you will be planting the fruity herb to support pollinators, in particular, here’s one other pineapple sage care caveat to keep in mind. Depending on your locale and cultivar, it can take a little while before your plant’s whorls of red blossoms emerge. If flowers are your main focus, opt for a pineapple sage variety that will bloom relatively early during your growing season.

How to water and fertilize pineapple sage plants

Established plants do exhibit some drought tolerance, but during summer’s very hot days, following regular water and fertilizer application schedules will help you to keep your plants healthy. To keep stems and leaves from becoming droopy—or, worse, downright crispy—direct water to the root zone at least once a week. (As for small or newly installed pineapple sage plants, you’ll likely need to water these two to three times per week.)

Provided you have nutrient-rich soil, you shouldn’t need to use a strong fertilizer for your pineapple sage plants. Still, if you want to give established plants a boost, you can water in some organic liquid nutrient tea once every two to four weeks.

Pruning, pinching, and picking pineapple sage

Watering and fertilizing aren’t the only pineapple sage care essentials you need to know about. Understanding pruning, pinching, and how to harvest this herb all matter, too.

Snipping off young stem tips will spur the growth of additional new shoots for bushier—and potentially more bloom-laden—plants. Also, once your plants are blooming, pinching off spent flower heads should keep new blooms coming from late summer and well into early fall.

To harvest pineapple sage, you can pinch off individual leaves and flowers as needed. Or, cut a length of stem, ideally just above a viable leaf node to encourage more new growth.

Where is pineapple sage hardy?

Throughout much of the U.S., pineapple sage is grown as an annual. However, people in USDA hardiness zones 8a or 8b, as well as those living south of those zones, usually can treat their pineapple sage plants like perennials. By adding extra mulch in late fall and trimming away dead wood in very early spring, gardeners in areas with light winter frosts may be able to successfully overwinter their plants as “tender” perennials.

Encouraging blooms

Warm temperatures combined with the shortening day lengths of late summer and early fall typically trigger blooming in pineapple sage plants. You can keep flowers coming by deadheading old blooms. Generally keeping plants healthy and adequately watered also will help to encourage blooms. So, too, will watering with a mild solution of compost or worm casting tea.

Pineapple sage uses

Offer the right pineapple sage care and you’ll be rewarded with loads of edible flowers and leaves perfect for use in jams, jellies, and even desserts like homemade sorbets and ice cream. Combine pineapple sage’s bright blooms with other edible flowers—think nasturtiums, borage, and calendula—to make a head-turning addition to any green salad or fruit salad. Or use pineapple sage leaves and flowers to garnish your favorite cocktails, mocktails, and other drinks.

Pineapple sage also can be dried for general use as a culinary herb, added to hot tea mixes, or even included in decorative wreaths.

Bonus tips for pineapple sage care

Here are a few extra pineapple sage care tips to ensure success with this versatile herb:

• Better protection: Protect new plantings from extreme heat and cold by mulching to insulate roots and conserve moisture. You might also provide a windbreak to protect your taller plants from damaging winds.
• Pest patrol: Due to its strong scent, deer and much smaller common pests, like aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites, mostly leave pineapple sage alone. However, if you bring your plant inside for the winter or you grow it exclusively indoors, you should periodically look under leaves and along stems for insect infestations and insect eggs. You usually can control small outbreaks by hand-picking. For more serious problems, you may want to spray with an insecticidal soap. In this case you would not want to eat the leaves or flowers.
• Extra plants: Take cuttings to share with others or grow inside until the following spring. Pineapple sage cuttings root readily when dipped in rooting hormone, planted in sterile growing media, and placed over a seedling heat mat.

Sage advice

Plenty of sunshine, regular watering, and room to grow are the pineapple sage care basics. As long as you have these covered, you should have more than enough plant material to use in salads, sweet treats, potpourri, and more. The pineapple-scented leaves and flowers are edible and help support area pollinators.

Other interesting herbs to add to your herb garden

• Cuban oregano
• Shiso
• Mitsuba
• Lemon balm