Hello, antique lavender! It's another gorgeous color for the Summer Jewelâ„?series -- and apparently, for this Hummingbird Sage, each and every color is destined to win an All-America Selection! There's just no beating the early and continuous bloom power, pollinator attraction, ease of care, and nonstop beauty of this sun-lover!

Just about 50 days from sowing the seed, you will see the first blooms open on upright, vigorous, well-branched plants. The flowers are flared and tubular, about ½-inch long, and they arise very closely spaced on long, slender stems. Held out like flags, they call to every butterfly, hummingbird, and bee in the garden!

Summer Jewelâ„?Lavender is a dwarf, but it sets so many hundreds of blooms over its lengthy late-spring-through-early-fall season that it's hard to believe the flower power. And these blooms are weather tough, bouncing right back from wind, rain, and extreme heat. Never been an annual sage with this kind of performance before!

The blooms crowd along sturdy stems among fuzzy mid-green foliage on plants just 15 to 20 inches high in bloom and 10 to 15 inches wide. So compact you can grow them in containers, they pack a big color punch in the garden, too! When autumn comes and the plants set seed, goldfinches swoop in for a big feast.

Summer Jewelâ„?Lavender is a native plant, content in any well-drained soil receiving full sunshine to light shade, but best when the soil is fertile and the moisture is consistent. It will tolerate heat, humidity, dry soil, and other stresses, but you'll want to pamper it to keep those amazing blooms coming in the greatest possible number. The show is just too jaw-dropping to cut short!

Be sure to plant a few Summer Jewelâ„?Lavender plants among your vegetables and herbs, too. By attracting beneficial insects and other pollinators, this Sage actually helps keep down the numbers of destructive pests that might attack your food crops. And the blooms really brighten up the "working" garden!

Hardy in zones 7-10, this Sage is grown as an annual everywhere. Packet is 25 seeds.