Hi friends!

I spent a major portion of my childhood traveling between Portland and CA, so I have a soft spot for some CA native plants like poppies, "lupine" (actually Texas Bluebonnets but don't tell them that in SLO County!), and sage. I recently found a little baby white sage plant at a nursery here and got so excited I brought it home without thinking.

Has anyone actually had luck growing this plant outdoors here? Google says it should be hardy here in zone 8b but might die back in winter and I'd have to hope it self-seeded, but I'd rather hear from someone who's tried it. I planned to pot it in the largest terracotta I could find, set it out in the hottest west-facing area of my back patio, then try to bring it indoors with some extra lights through winter. Not sure what kind of soil mix I'd use, though, since it's happiest in a desert.

Any input appreciated

Hi Jenny! Yes: grown north of you, east of Seattle in Sammamish. It did well in a large pot which I moved under the eaves each winter to protect from excess rain. It met its demise during an extreme cold spell (single-walled pot), but I had it in that same pot for more than several years. Just detests the rain, which can create problems here.
If you're going to plant in-ground, I would recommend you contact a nursery specializing in xeric plants. There are probably ways to protect it from rain. One trick is to plant it high in the ground (about 1/2 - 1" above the ground soil level) & surround with grit or granite chips. This keeps the base of the plant drier, which is critical. In higher elevations, the cold is not an issue because any snow cover acts an an insulator. In my area, we don't see that much snow & our snow is wetter than say, Rocky mtn snow. (after all, our snow is commonly referred to as "Cascade Concrete"...)
I wouldn't discourage you from growing it - it's a gorgeous plant; I hope this helps!

Thank you for all that great information, Kate!

They are gorgeous plants at full size. Here's my lil baby a couple days ago (the day it came home):

You scored, Jenny! I was actually thinking about trying another one until earlier this evening. when we had a downpour. I was scrambling about trying to finish with planting & decided I'd leave the more xeric salvias to others in drier climates. Please post a photo of it at the end of summer, if you're able, so others will see how gorgeous they are! Best Wishes...K

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I feel in love with sage the first time I saw Nichol's Nursery's display garden. I haven't been there in decades, but at one time, they had dozens of varieties.

https://www.nicholsgardennurse...