Purple, flowers appear on tall spikes in early summer. Albiflora has tall spikes of white flowers. Aurea or golden sage, has a compact habit and variegated yellow foliage, Tricolor has variegated leaves of white, purplish red and pink. Pineapple sage has light green leaves with a delightfully strong pineapple fragrance. It produces scarlet flowers in the fall.
Pineapple sage is the least hardy variety.
Placed near the vegetable garden, sage controls cabbage moths, carrot flies, and ticks. Sage was growing wild in Southern Europe in Roman times. Roman soldiers took it north to France, Germany and Britain. In medieval times, sage was the most popular of culinary and medicinal herbs, and still is one of the most commonly used herbs for cooking. With its strong flavor, sage may not be everyone's choice for a salad herb, but if its used sparingly, it goes exceptionally well with cooling summer salads of lettuce, cucumber and spring onions.