I've found if it's not planted en masse, it's harder to photograph the Russian Sage we have growing in our garden, at least to truly show off their beauty, but here it is anyhow...I've also included a photo below of another one in the lower 'tier' of our backyard garden, hogging the limelight right in the center of the photo...
One of our top ten favorite garden plants, the Russian Sage (AKA Perovskia atriplicifolia) is at its height of awesome right now in summer - and thank goodness as it's also an incredibly drought tolerant plant as well. You can't usually find it in garden centers around here until May, but it grows VERY quickly and overwintered here (zone 8b) quite well.
I first fell in love with Russian Sage back at the little house I rented in Santa Barbara twenty or so years ago, where it lined the front patio, and when I married my husband, both of us plant-obsessed peeps were committed to getting these into our gardens wherever we lived. It has definitely thrived here in the Emerald City, growing over 3' tall both in full sun and even with a bit of afternoon shade (thankfully), and the bees are definitely in heaven...
