5.2 Perennials

60
Notes: includes about 250 spp. of widely distributed herbs.
PERENNIALS
Rudbeckia laciniata L.
cut leaf coneflower, rudbeckie lacinee
per. hardy Jul-Sep 2.2-4 m N"
Value for honey: sometimes freely worked for N 35 ; see Rudbeckia .
Notes: Even single flowers provide only a small amount of N 35 ; yellow flowers found
growing wild from Que. to B.C., especially in rich low ground, w. Que., to Mont. S. to
N.S., N.E. and beyond Can. range 23 .
Salvia L. (see individual spp. for more detail)
salvia, sage, ramona, sauge
per. (bienn.) Jun-Jul
Value for honey: HP4/6 16 ; S. mellifera Greene (black sage) is not often cultivated, but
is usually credited as the principal source of sage H in N. America 72 ; S. nemorosa L.
(wood sage) has a reported HP5 17 and occurs naturally in parts of the Okanagan and
Fraser Valleys of B.C. Local opinion in B.C. holds that bees never collect anything
from the common sage brush' in B.0 b.
Honey: probably most of the many spp. of wild and cultivated sages give H with
similar characteristics 72 ; considered to be some of the finest H on the market 72 ; classed
as water-white; granulates extremely slowly (in some cases it has been known to stay
liquid for years); heavy body; delightful flavour 1632 .
Notes: includes more than 750 spp. of herbs, subshrubs and shrubs usually growing in
dry to stony sites; flowers mostly large and showy in spiked racemes or panicled
whorls 23 .
Salvia officinalis L.
garden sage, common sage, sauge, grand sauge, the de France
per. -37° to -29° C Jun-Jul 20-70 cm N(P?)
Value for honey: HP5/6 16; N sugar concentration 30-60% 17 .
Honey: light and pale yellow in colour; classed as amber to white; granulates slowly,
like most Salvia; aromatic flavour 17 ;
Notes: much grown as a pot-herb or spice; commercially cultivated in the USA 51 .
Salvia pratensis L.
meadow sage, meadow clary, sauge des pres, sauge sauvage
per. -37° to -29° C 60 cm N 35
Value for honey: see Salvia.
Notes: commonly cultivated; whorled racemes of (typically) bright violet blue or pink
or white flowers; in cultivation flowers are extremely variable; naturalized in waste land,
fields etc., Mass. and S. beyond Can. range 23 .
Salvia x superba Stapf (: S. x sylvestris x S. villicaulis Both.)
(syn. Salvia virgata Hort. not Jacq.; S. virgata nemorosa Hort.; S. nemorosa Mottet and
auth., not L.)
per. -23° to -21° C mid Jun-late Aug N 36
Value for honey: HP4 (for Salvia x superba vars.) 16 ; see Salvia.
a The common sage brush may refer to an Artemisia sp.
b McCutcheon, D. (1986). Personal communication: