Hedgehog Sage

Prickly, yes. Sage, no. The hedgehog sage or witch’s hat (not sure which name I like better! ) is a hardy little plant that has just been reclassified as Coleus livingstonei. It’s in the Lamiaceae family (same as mint, salvias and obviously coleus) and just like its cousins, it is super easy to propagate through cuttings. This makes it a classic plant to swap and pick up plant stalls - I bought mine as a small cutting from a roadside stall labelled ‘pretty purple salvia’. It didn’t quite give off salvia vibes to me but I gave it a shot and when it flowered I was pleasantly surprised!

While it can become quite a big bush (think baaaack of the border - 1.5m+), it responds fabulously to a hard cut back so I’ve managed to keep mine at a more manageable size, rubbing shoulders with other coleus, purple and blue salvias and some purple ribbon bush. The inflorescences resemble a witch’s hat in shape, the individual flowers are more of an electric blue than purple and they open and bloom from the base upward. Each flower has four stamens that (to me at least) kind of stand out like tiny little specks of glitter. As the flowers die off, the left over seeds are very prickly (so beware when pruning!), but the triangular leaves are soft and gently furry.

Prickly seed heads!

This is a tough perennial that comes from the east of Africa. It will take full sun (for best flowering) or part shade and likes a good well drained soil.