From Small Seeds to Colourful Summer Spires

A friendly guide to sowing, growing, cutting and enjoying ornamental clary in Hungary.

Come Into the Garden With Me…

Today, we're growing clary.

And before we go any further, let me save you from one of those wonderfully confusing gardening names. The clary in our Holland Kertészet seed packet is not the large herb known as clary sage, Salvia sclarea. Ours is ornamental clary: Salvia viridis, also sold under the older name Salvia horminum.

It is a cheerful annual grown less for its tiny flowers than for the colourful bracts that sit around them. Those bracts can be pink, purple, violet and white, and from a distance they make the plant look as though someone has painted the top of every stem.

It is easy to grow, useful for cutting, attractive to pollinators, and very comfortable in a sunny Hungarian summer once established.

This is also one of those flowers that becomes more interesting the closer you look. At first you notice the colour. Then you realise the colour isn't really the flower at all.

We'll sow it, raise the young plants, find the right place in the garden, keep it flowering, cut it for the house and save a little seed for next year.

By the end, I want you to know exactly what this slightly old-fashioned but very charming annual needs.

Come on. Let's grow some colour.

1. Meet Clary

Ornamental clary belongs to the sage family, but it behaves very differently from the woody culinary sages you may already know.

The form we are growing is Salvia viridis, also widely listed as Salvia horminum. The Holland Kertészet packet is the Horti Tops Tricolor Mixed type, which means one packet can give you several colours rather than one uniform shade.

The colourful part is not quite the flower

Look closely at a mature stem and you'll see that the most eye-catching parts are coloured bracts: modified leaves surrounding the much smaller true flowers. That is why clary keeps looking colourful even after individual flowers have finished.

It is a clever little trick and one reason the stems work so well in bouquets.

How big does it get?

Most Tricolor Mixed plants grow roughly 40–70 cm tall, depending on soil, weather and spacing. They are upright enough for the middle of a border but still light enough to weave between other annuals.

2. Finding the Right Place

Give it sun

Clary performs best in full sun. In Hungary, a bright open position gives the strongest plants and the best colour.

A little light afternoon shade is acceptable in a very hot garden, but deep shade usually gives weaker stems and fewer colourful bracts.

Ordinary soil is fine

This is not a plant that demands perfect soil. It does well in ordinary, reasonably fertile garden ground as long as drainage is good.

Heavy Hungarian clay can be improved with compost and better structure, but don't turn the bed into a rich, wet sponge. Clary prefers soil that drains rather than stays saturated after rain.

A good place in the border

Because the stems are upright and colourful, clary looks especially good in loose groups of five or more plants. Use it among cosmos, yarrow, baby's breath, marigolds or ornamental grasses, or give it a small cutting patch of its own.

3. The Clary We Grow With You

In the current Holland Kertészet range, you'll find Clary - 0.5 g from Horti Tops. The matching Horti Tops variety is Salvia horminum / Salvia viridis 'Tricolor Mixed'.

The producer's sowing advice is wonderfully straightforward: sow under protection from mid-March to mid-April, or sow outdoors in a seedbed from mid-April to the end of May, then transplant after about five to six weeks.

Why I like the mixed packet

With a colour mix, you don't know exactly which shade each seedling will become. One plant may give you soft pink, another deep violet, another pale white-green. That small uncertainty makes the first flowering much more fun.

A cutting flower too

The stems are useful in fresh arrangements because the coloured bracts add vertical shape without overwhelming larger flowers. They are also attractive when dried, especially if harvested before the stems become old and brittle.

4. Let's Sow

Starting under protection

From mid-March to mid-April, fill a seed tray or modules with a fine, free-draining seed compost. Moisten it first, then sow the seeds thinly and cover them lightly.

Keep the compost gently moist while germination begins. Good light is important as soon as seedlings appear, otherwise they can become long and weak.

Sowing outdoors

From mid-April to the end of May, you can also sow in a prepared outdoor seedbed once conditions are suitable. Rake the soil fine, sow thinly, cover lightly and water with a gentle rose on the watering can.

The advantage of a seedbed is simplicity. The advantage of trays is control. Both can work beautifully.

Don't crowd them

If seedlings come up thickly, thin them early. Crowded seedlings stretch, compete for light and airflow, and become much harder to transplant cleanly.

5. From Seedling to Garden Plant

Transplanting

After roughly five to six weeks, when the seedlings are sturdy enough to handle, move them to their final position. If they were started indoors, harden them off gradually first so they adjust to wind, sun and cooler nights.

In most of Hungary, permanent outdoor planting is safest once hard frost is no longer a realistic threat.

Spacing

Give plants roughly 20–30 cm between neighbours. That is close enough for a full display but generous enough for air to move between stems.

Water them in

Water well after planting and keep an eye on moisture while the roots establish. Young plants need more help than mature ones.

Once established, clary becomes fairly tolerant of warm, dry weather, but it will flower better if it isn't left desperately thirsty for long periods.

6. Growing Strong, Colourful Plants

Watering through Hungarian summer

Water deeply when the soil is becoming dry rather than giving little splashes every day. Plants in pots need more frequent attention because containers heat up and dry out quickly.

Feeding

Clary does not need heavy feeding. In reasonably fertile soil, a modest amount of compost before planting is often enough. Too much nitrogen can encourage soft leafy growth at the expense of strong, colourful stems.

Pinching or not?

If young plants are growing as one tall stem, a gentle pinch of the growing tip can encourage branching, especially when plants are still small and healthy. This is optional rather than essential.

Deadheading

Removing tired stems can keep the planting looking fresh, but remember that the bracts remain decorative for quite a while. Don't rush to cut a stem simply because a few tiny flowers have finished.

7. When Something Goes Wrong

The plants are tall and floppy

Too much shade, too-rich soil or overcrowding can create weak stems. Give plants more light, avoid heavy feeding and allow better spacing next time.

Not much colour

First check sunlight. A plant struggling in shade often gives a less impressive display. Also be patient: the coloured bracts develop as stems mature.

Leaves are yellowing

Check the soil before reaching for fertiliser. Constantly wet soil can stress roots, while a very dry young plant may simply need water. The whole growing situation matters more than one leaf.

Aphids

Tender new growth can attract aphids. Inspect stem tips regularly and deal with small colonies early. If a plant-protection product is needed, choose one currently authorised for the intended use in Hungary and follow the label.

Powdery coating

Poor airflow and stressed growth can encourage mildew. Avoid crowding, water the soil rather than repeatedly soaking leaves, and remove badly affected material where necessary.

8. Cutting, Drying and Pollinators

For the vase

Cut stems when the coloured bracts are well developed and the small flowers are beginning to open. Harvest in the cool part of the day, use clean snips and place stems promptly into clean water.

Clary is especially useful as a supporting flower: it adds height, texture and colour around larger blooms without taking over the arrangement.

For drying

Choose clean stems with good colour, strip excess lower foliage and hang small bunches upside down in a dry, airy place out of strong sunlight. The bracts can hold their colour surprisingly well.

For insects

Like many salvias, clary is attractive to bees and other pollinating insects. Let some stems stay in the garden even if you're cutting others for the house.

Where clary really earns its place

Clary is especially useful in a garden that has plenty of round flowers. Think of dahlias, zinnias, marigolds or cosmos. Their flowers create circles and discs; clary adds upright coloured spires between them. That contrast makes the whole planting feel more interesting.

In a softer cottage-style border, let it weave through baby's breath, poppies and yarrow. In something more modern, repeat groups of one or two colours beside grasses or silver foliage. The plant is relaxed enough for an informal garden but tidy enough to use deliberately.

Growing in containers

Clary can also grow in a large sunny container. Use a free-draining potting mix and make sure excess water can escape. A pot dries faster than garden soil, so check moisture more often during hot Hungarian weather.

Because Tricolor Mixed gives several shades, one generous pot can become a little bouquet all by itself. If too many seedlings germinate, thin them rather than trying to keep every one. Crowding rarely produces the fullest display.

A flower that changes as it ages

One of the pleasures of clary is that a stem doesn't look exactly the same from week to week. Fresh bracts are bright and crisp; older ones soften slightly in colour while still holding their shape. That gradual change is beautiful in the garden and useful when deciding which stems to cut and which to leave for insects or seed.

9. End of the Season and Saving Seed

Clary is an annual, so one plant completes its life cycle in a single growing season. That doesn't mean the story has to end there.

Let a few stems mature

If you want seed, stop deadheading some healthy stems late in the season. Allow the seed heads to dry on the plant as far as the weather permits.

Harvest on a dry day before everything begins shattering onto the ground. Finish drying the stems indoors on paper, then collect and label the seed.

Will it come true?

Because Tricolor Mixed contains several colours, saved seed can give you another mixture rather than exact copies of the individual parent plants. I think that's part of the charm.

Autumn cleanup

After frost finishes the plants, remove spent growth and compost healthy material. If you enjoy self-seeding, leave a few mature stems in place a little longer and see what appears next spring.

10. Your Clary Cheat Sheet

Choose Holland Kertészet Clary - 0.5 g, Horti Tops Tricolor Mixed (Salvia viridis / Salvia horminum).

Sow under protection from mid-March to mid-April, or outdoors from mid-April to the end of May.

Cover seed lightly and keep the compost or seedbed gently moist.

Give seedlings good light and thin them before they become crowded.

Transplant after about five to six weeks, hardening indoor-raised plants off first.

Plant in full sun and well-drained ordinary garden soil.

Space around 20-30 cm apart for airflow and a full display.

Water young plants while they establish; mature plants handle summer dryness better.

Cut colourful stems for fresh or dried arrangements and leave some for pollinators.

Allow a few stems to set seed if you want to grow your own Tricolor mixture again next year.

If You Remember Only Five Things…

1. This is ornamental clary

We are growing Salvia viridis / Salvia horminum, not the large herb Salvia sclarea.

2. The colour is mostly in the bracts

Those pink, purple and white 'flowers' are largely modified leaves surrounding much smaller true flowers.

3. Give it sun

Good light means stronger stems and better colour.

4. Don’t overfeed

Ordinary soil, drainage and sensible watering are more useful than rich feeding.

5. Save a little seed

One packet can become next year's patch if you let a few stems finish their season naturally.

One Last Walk Around the Garden

Do you remember where we started? With a small packet called simply Clary and a name that could easily have sent us toward the wrong plant entirely.

Now we know what we're growing.

A colourful annual salvia with pink, violet and white bracts. Easy from seed. Happy in sunshine. Useful in the border, useful in a vase and useful to visiting insects.

We know when to sow it in Hungary, how to raise the seedlings, why we shouldn't crowd them and why the strongest colour comes in a bright position.

We also know that what looks like the flower isn't quite the flower at all.

And that's one of the lovely things about gardening. The closer you look, the more interesting an ordinary plant becomes.

Perhaps you'll grow a purple one beside yarrow. A pink one among cosmos. A white one in a cutting patch. Or perhaps you'll simply sow the whole packet and let the mixture surprise you.

Whichever way you grow it, save a few stems at the end of summer. Let them dry. Collect the seed. Put the envelope somewhere safe.

Then next spring, when the garden begins asking what comes next, you'll already have an answer.

And when you're ready for another plant…

Come into the garden with me.