When I think of landscaping, I always think of herbs. There are so many ways to use herbs in the landscape and tens of thousands of choices.

Lets start with Salvias. There&8217;s more to salvia than garden sage (Salvia officianalis) grown for your turkey and dressing. There are more reasons to grow it than just eating it. I grow garden sage for the blue blossoms. Also in this group are: the dwarf sage, low growing and compact; tricolor sage has sage green leaves with whitish outline and a tinge of purple on the young leaves; purple sage, purplish hint on foliage and a darker blue to purple bloom stalk.

All of these have a culinary value, as well as pineapple sage (S. elagans). Not only does it have a sweet pineapple scent when you crush the leaves, but the hummingbirds love the bright red tubular blooms.

You can use pineapple sage to flavor sugars for a sweet twist to your baking. Remove a few leaves from your pineapple sage, wash them and place them in a sealable container with a cup or two of sugar. Let the sugar rest at room temperature for a few days, then remove the leaves.

You can also flavor sugars with most mints and scented geraniums. We&8217;ll get to those plants in future articles.

Some of my other favorites are: Mexican bush sage (S. leucantha). It has a shrub like growth habit, up to four feet tall, with lavender blue blooms. Though this sage is not considered hardy in Shelby County, I have had the same plants for years. The leaves have a cat urine scent but the blooms are worth the smell.

Then there&8217;s the Bog sage (S. uliginosa). Though this one&8217;s scent has been described as like &8220;bad smelly feet,&8221; it has the most beautiful autumn sky blue blooms. I don&8217;t think there&8217;s any other blue on earth.

Bog sage grows well in moist area which brings up another herbal subject…bog loving herbs. Perhaps we&8217;ll cover these herbs in a week or two.

Did you know that Fi&8217;le powder is made from the dried leaves of the sassafras tree? Yet another herb subject. Get ready, folks, I&8217;m on an herbal roll.

Next week: Even more landscaping with herbs