Salvia merjamie

This Salvia is found throughout East Africa. I have to say that I find it to be somewhat weedy, and hardly garden-worthy. It is, however, easy to grow in the UK, The flowers are pale blue, but are reluctant to bloom, somewhat cleistogamous, like S. lyrata. Easily grown from seed, plants will flower freely in a few months. It is often considered to be a biennial, which does not make sense! Salvia merjamie, however, does have one redeeming feature, the leaves smell strongly of mint, this is probably why some nurseries sell and name this plant as "Mint Sauce". Hardy in well-drained soil. Photo kindly supplied by Yoji Saito.