This has got to be one of my favorite plants if only for the smell. Other people have told me that it is a unpleasant smell, maybe medicinal, but I think it smells clean. It is certainly a strong smell, and if your clothes brush the plant the scent will stay with you for a long time.

I grew my first clary sage from seeds and they were easy to germinate and not at all fussy. The plants grow quickly and are very upright to about eight feet if given plenty of room. They are classified as biennials and bloom the second year, but often the older plants survive the winter to bloom another year. I have my plants growing in quite a bit of shade with only morning sun, perhaps the reflection from my house helps some.
The common name of clary sage comes from the practice of using preparatons from the plant to clean the eye, or "clear eye".

Another unusual Salvia that I grew easily from seed is S. verticillata. An improved form is the variety 'Purple Rain', with the most amazing light purple spikes. Both are huge plants, not growing up like Salvia sclarea but out until it is almost four feet across. It is extremely hardy and blooms most of the summer.

I first saw this plant growing wild on a shady ditchbank, but I have learned it grows better with sun and drained soil. Usually known as moth mullein, it is a close relative of the much more common and much larger yellow mullein. They both originated in Europe and Asia. It grows head high and after blooming has cute little round seed pods attached stiffly to the stem.