Pineapple Sage - Salvia elegans

Description

• Pineapple sage is an herbaceous perennial with scarlet red flowers, growing 1.2 to 1.5 meters.  The leaves remain scented all year and crushing them releases the best pineapple scent.
• Like all sages, pineapple sage is visually appealing and may be grown as a nice addition to the garden. However, it does also have some culinary applications and was used for traditional medicine by Mexicans. 
• Pineapple sage has a different flavour to common garden sage and it is not considered to be a culinary substitute for normal sage.
• The leaves and flowers are both edible and may be used as part of salads or as garnishes. They are a nice addition to fruit salads as the crushed leaves will impart a pineapple aroma. They can also be used in cold soups, to garnish cool drinks and iced or herbal teas. An interesting idea is to mix chopped leaves with cream cheese for a tasty spread.