Family:  Lamiaceae
Hardiness: at least 0 degrees F
Long-lived evergreen woody perennials with plump leaves that dry down into excellent spice--rich-smelling and wholesome. Best used for flavoring eggs and other protein dishes.    If used in sufficient quantity, Thyme acts as a potent antiseptic and expectorant. Plant prefers full sun, warm limey soil, side-dressing with organic compost, and moderate watering.  Sow in spring.  Average germination 5 days warm.  The set consists of one packet each of Thymus serphyllum, T. vulgaris "English Broadleaf", T. vulgaris "German Winter", Thymus mastichina and Thymis zygis.  price shown is for 4 packets, a substantial discount over buying the packets individually

Blue Sage   (Salvia azurea)
Family:  Mint (Lamiaceae)
Hardiness:  20 degrees F
Perennial. Native to the American Southwest. Easy and hardy. Beautiful light blue flowers with a ruffled, plate-like lip on the corolla. These are awesome in the fall. The seed of this species is a traditional food of the native people, nutritive and sustaining. Average germ time 7 days. Space 1 foot apart. Flowers 3 to 5 feet tall.
Organic 100 seeds/pkt.

Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)
Widely cultivated in civilized countries worldwide for the perfume industry and other higher persuits, to be a "noxious weed.")
This is a classic biennial, creating a lush rosette in the first year, followed by excellently beautiful and fragrant flowers in the second year.  I have heard the fragrance described as "passion."

Organically grown 50 seeds/pkt.

(Tan-shen or Dan-shen, Chinese Red Sage, sometimes misspelled multiorrhiza)
Family:  Mint (Lamiaceae)
Hardiness:  to 15 degrees F
Herbaceous perennial native to Manchuria.  This is the official species.  One of the best circulation enhancing herbs.  Known as a non-enervating stimulant, it improves blood flow to the extremities without compromising the adrenals.  Helps move stuck blood as in atherosclerosis or menstrual woes.  I went to a conference where a well-known practitioner of acupuncture said, "This is my favorite Chinese herb and everyone should be taking it."   Although my opinion varies somewhat from this statement, still I consider Dan-shen to be an excellent herb for addressing poor circulation issues and also for prevention of stroke, even in individuals who are at high risk of stroke or who have already endured one of these frightening and often debilitating episodes.  Finally, the herb itself is comely, and the roots, as shown in the photo I took for the webpage, look like veins, being bright red, and are an obvious signature of the herb's activity.  Excellent choice for herb gardens throughout the temperate north and a show plant for sure.  Sow in fast-draining soil in the full sun.  Gratifyingly easy germinator--sow in spring and work up in pots before transplanting to the landscape.  Mulch heavily to overwinter, unless you're in Santa Barbara...
100 seeds/pkt., Certified Organically Grown

Dominican Sage (Salvia dominica)
Family:  Lamiaceae
Hardiness:  0 degrees F, possibly colder
Woody perennial native to the Middle East.  One of the desired small sized sages, flowering from 2 to 3 feet . The plant is fuzzy and soft, bearing large flowers, white and yellow with lavender highlights. The entire plant, including leaf, stem and flowers, is redolent with the unique, fruity scent of sclaerol. In this way, it is more universally aromatic than Clary sage, which it distantly resembles.  Useful in perfumery, cosmetics and in the production of the rare essential oil. Plant prefers full sun and fast-draining, sandy soil. The original accession was from coastal Israel, and it actually took me years to work up a reasonable seed lot, due to the fact that the plant is much more flower rich than seed rich, in my experience.  I built a special raised bed for it, bumped up with a little compost and a great deal of coarse, sharp sand.  This seemed to do the trick, as weed pressure was less of an issue, and the full sun exposure and gentle watering through a hot summer finally produced a fat seed harvest.  Phew.  Probably overwinters better if crowns can be kept dry by way of deep sand or cinder mulch around the plants--its the cold AND wet that cause rotting.  Very drought tolerant. Sow seed in spring. Easy to germinate.
Organically grown 20 seeds/pkt.

(Garden Sage, Official Sage)
Family:  Mint (Lamiaceae)
Hardy to:  0 degrees F
Woody perennial. This plant is simply a must for any traditional herb garden. Visitors will run their hands over the soft, grey-green leaves to release the essential oils. Sage makes an antibacterial mouthwash or gargle for sore throat, indespensable spice. Plant prefers full sun and well-drained soil.  Sow seed in a flat in the greenhouse for best results.  Individuate and pot up fast-growing seedlings  after they attain 2 sets of true leaves.  You can transplant out to the garden and even in the first year have dried sage leaves in time to make dressing for the inevitable thanksgiving turkey or tofurkey.  Average germ time 10 days.
100 Seeds/pkt., Certified Organically Grown [LIFELINE PRICING]

California Pitcher Sage (Salvia spathacea)
(Hummingbird Sage, Sage, Pitcher)
Evergreen, clumping  perennial flowering to 3 feet.  Native to the California Central Valley and Southern California.  Easily one of the most sought-after sages worldwide, the plant is pineapple aromatic and covered with oil glands.  The very robust flowering cola can be as thick as your wrist. 
The flowers occur in thick whorls--elongated, magenta, and highly attractive to hummingbirds.  Plant prefers sun to part shade, moderate water, and is hardy to down to 10 degrees F (zone 8).  The plant thrives in the dry shade of oaks or pines.  Seeds 3-5 times larger than most sage species (e.g. S. officinalis, S. apiana) and quite rare in the trade.  10 seeds per packet $3.95

Note on Germination: Unscarified seed came up in 14 days and ongoing at 65 degrees F.  Volcanic germinator with fat cotyledons and leaves purple variegated--the royalty among sages--I know of no Salvia that is more desireable.  Richo

Note for summer 2009.  Very good year on these, floated seed to remove all empty seedcoats and died.  Germ test gave 9 out of 10.  Raised seeds per packet from 5 to 10.  RAC

Sage, Purple (Salvia leucophylla) seed, wild form
Family:  Lamiaceae
Hardiness: to - 10 degrees F
Deciduous woody perennial growing to 6 feet unless seriously pruned back, native to baja, coastal california and associated transverse mountain ranges.  Silvery foliage with purple flowers occurring in whorls, with protruding stamens, very showy as the Salvias tend to be.  Incredibly drought tolerant--a good subject for xeroscaping.  Aromatic and medicinal, with the same medicinal attributes as garden sage--drying to secretions (sweat, breast milk) and stimulating to memory.  Sweetly expectorant.  Good for offerings.  Plant prefers fast-draining, dryish soils and full sun.  Sow in spring.  30 seeds/pkt $2.85, open pollinated

White Sage (Salvia apiana)
Herbaceous perennial. The beautiful white foliage of this indigenous plant sets off the silver-blue flowering spikes. This is the most highly valued and revered of all North American Sages, burned ceremonially to cleanse the spirit and welcome positive thoughts. Foliage is light green to white when the plant is young, and turns very white as the plant matures, and especially after drying the leaves. The characteristic perfume of this plant is sweet and penetrating. Cut the leafy wands in the fall, semi-dry them, then tie into bundles for use during the winter. Cultivation: Sow seeds in very sandy soil and water once daily. Our seed is from northern-hardy individuals and is a vigorous germinator--normal germ time 14 days. Hardy to 20 degrees F, otherwise cultivate as an annual or bring indoors for winter. Winter survivability improves when the plant is surrounded by a deep mulch of sand at the crown--this keeps the crown warmer and drier. White sage loves a dry, sunny exposure. Plant 2 feet apart. Rosette usually grows to 2 or 3 feet tall, and flowering spikes may reach 6 feet.
Organically grown 100 seeds/pkt.

Note of 1/24/07:  Regarding "fire dependent" germination of white sage.  Several years ago we heard from white sage wild harvesters that seedlings of the plant were emerging after fire, so thus clued in, we tried building a fire on top of the flat after planting the seed, and sure enough, we did get good germination.  We also tried planting the seed by itself without the fire treatment, and we got germination doing that, too.  Over the course of several years, growing the plant and harvesting our own seed, we noticed a reduction in recalcitrance.  That is, the domesticated seeds were germinating at a higher rate and faster than the wild harvested seed.  So, given the high rates of germination we discontinued experimentation with fire treatment, and in fact I notice in the writeup above that there's nothing about fire treatment in the planting instructions.  This is probably because a little information can be dangerous. (We had correspondence from people who literally charred the seed and then reported poor germination--this was not the kind of gentle fire treatment we had originally proposed, where in fact the seed was protected by a layer of soil between it and the flash fire.)  Recently (6 days ago, in fact) I took down a seeded raceme from the string we have stretched across the main beam of the seedhouse. There was an odd smell in the seedhouse, as someone was heating up some really smelly food.  I wanted to burn some white sage to clean up the vibes.  I stuck the end of the branch in a pot of soil and lit the branch with my lighter.  It went up in smoke, and seeds were popping out of the raceme and falling all over the cement floor.  So I swept them up and planted them.  It was the dark of the moon, more or less.  6 days later (today) the pot is full of new seedlings.  Now, that's really fast germination for white sage seed, which usually takes (see above) 2 weeks to come up, not less than one week.  So we could say that the seed is STIMULATED by fire although it is not DEPENDENT on fire.  It is a good distinction to make, especially because some people like to play with fire and some people would rather not.  White sage is so giving, it serves BOTH kinds of people.  Richo

Another note on germination:  Current year's seed germinated in 4 days at 65 degrees F.  (YOW!)  Richo

Sagebrush, common (Artemisia tridentata, Chamiso)
Woody perennial bush native to Western US and Canada.  Soft, silvery, grey-green, resinous and aromatic, the branches are plucked, partially dried, and bundled to make traditional smudge sticks.  Purifying fumigant and spiritual adjuvant.  Leaf tea used medicinally against toothache, colds and fevers--makes an antiseptic gargle.  Plant prefers dry, sandy slopes and full sun.  Excellent drainage necessary.   Sow very small seed on the surface of sandy soil in early spring and press in hard.  Keep moist until germination, which I found in my tests can take as long as 30 days.  Spotty germ is typical--seed contains lots of inhibitors.  Flowers yellow to 8 feet in the right circumstances.  200 seeds/pkt open pollinated