Mexican Bush Sage

The plant that is getting the most attention from hummingbirds and butterflies is the Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha). I love the color and fuzziness of the flowers. It's about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide and loves full sun. It hasn't bloomed much during the summer. I guess it was saving it's energy for slightly cooler temperatures.

I've had this salvia for a few years and its always been over shadowed by my other big salvia bush, the Indigo Spires Salvia. I've got lots of pictures of him in other blog posts. Indigo Spires blooms non stop from spring through fall. My Mexican Bush Sage was not as spectacular as my Indigo Spires, so I threw some fertilizer on it and hoped for the best. The fertilizer didn't help much mainly because I've got irises planted near the salvia and I think they sucked up most of the fertilizer! Anyways, its blooming nicely now and holding its own.

Now to talk about my Bat Face Cuphea (Cuphea llavea). This plant takes up an entire side of my flower bed! Its at least 3 feet around but it doesn't grow tall, just about 2 feet tall. It has pushed several other plants out of its way and grew right over them. It wants it's space and doesn't care how it gets it. If this plant were a person it would be pushy and selfish! Hummingbirds love this plant.

I've always loved the interesting shape of the flowers. I think it does look like a bat's face. This plant can stand up to the hot Louisiana summers and drought conditions.

This is Ginger laying in my flower bed being lazy. I planted her a cat nip plant but it died sometime over the summer. I'll get her a new one in the spring.