Clary Sage: Cultivation, Harvest And Use In The Kitchen

muskatellersalbei

Clary sage is more accustomed to taste than normal kitchen sage, but refines many dishes and promotes digestion. Its scent has a calming effect on the psyche. We show you how to plant this home remedy in your own garden.

Clary sage is related to the common sage and at first glance looks quite similar to it. What distinguishes it is mainly its characteristic, very intense fragrance. Clary sage is used, for example, in scented pillows. Clary sage oil can also serve as a room fragrance in living areas or bedrooms. In addition, the oil can have a mood-lifting effect.

The taste of leaves and flowers is similarly intense as the smell. You can therefore use clary sage as a versatile spice in cooking.

Growing clary sage in the garden

Muskatellersalbei fühlt sich im Kiesbeet besonders wohl.

Clary Sage: Cultivation, Harvest And Use In The Kitchen

Habitat: clary sage was originally native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. It is therefore not surprising that it likes it warm and sunny. If you want to plant clary sage in your own garden, you should take this into account and choose a location that is as sunny and dry as possible. Ideally, it should be protected from the wind.

Soil: It should be rich in humus, loamy to sandy and dry. It may even be somewhat stony. A gravel bed, for example, is ideal. If you do not want to create a gravel bed, the clary sage also grows in ordinary garden beds.

Sowing: The seeds of clary sage are best sown in summer (from July). It is also still possible in early autumn. The plant will not flower until the following year. Clary sage is a so-called light germinator – this means you don’t have to cover the seeds with soil after sowing.

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Watering: Clary sage is easy to care for because it is used to a dry climate with little rain. You should still water the young plants regularly. The adult sage, on the other hand, needs water only occasionally, for example on hot summer days.

Life span: clary sage is a biennial plant. Once established in the garden, however, it usually self-seeds. New plants then regrow from the fruit of the first plant.

Grow clary sage in a pot

Du kannst Muskatellersalbei auch im Blumentopf heranziehen und später umpflanzen.

You can also grow clary sage in a pot first and transplant it later. This has the advantage that you can keep the plant in a frost-protected place during the first winter: Especially as a young plant, clary sage is sensitive to cold and does not tolerate frost. When the winter is over, you can move it outside in the spring.

If you do not want to grow clary sage yourself, there are also nurseries that offer it directly as a young plant. This will save you waiting time.

Dig the young plant into a suitable spot in the garden. Make sure that the root ball is completely covered with soil. If you want to have more than one plant for your bed, make sure there is a distance of at least 60 centimeters between the plants.

Harvesting and drying clary sage

Muskatellersalbei kannst du wie viele Kräuter frisch essen, aber auch trocknen.

Until you can harvest, you need a little patience: clary sage blooms only in the second year. When the time comes, you can use both the leaves and the flowers of the plant. They are ready for harvest at different times:

The harvest time for the leaves is from April to July. However, it is best to harvest them just before the flowering period, which begins in June.


The flowers of clary sage appear in June and usually bloom until August. During this time you can collect them.
You can use the harvested leaves and flowers fresh in the summer, but also dry or freeze them. How to harvest and dry sage leaves properly, we show you here. It is just as easy to dry the flowers of the plant. Once dried, you store the clary sage ideally airtight and protected from light, so that the aroma is preserved as long as possible.

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Clary sage in the kitchen


Clary sage has a strong scent, reminiscent of citrus, and a powerful aroma: it tastes sweet and slightly nutty. It was mainly used in wine making in the past. Its name probably derives from the fact that winemakers used clary sage oil to flavor muscatel wines.

You can use clary sage best for desserts and sweet dishes because of its sweet taste. The edible flowers not only look decorative on the plate, but in summer they are also suitable for adding an interesting note to tea, cocktails or punch. You can also add the flowers or young leaves to jams, jellies and honey. Because their aroma is so intense, however, you should always use them sparingly – and check beforehand whether they suit your taste at all.

In addition to desserts, you can also use clary sage in savory dishes. The dried leaves season sauces, vegetables and meat dishes, for example. “Recipe classics” do not necessarily exist in this area – you can experiment according to your own ideas.

In addition, clary sage is said to stimulate digestion and thus not only add spice to dishes, but also make them more digestible. You can also make a digestive tea from the dried leaves and flowers.

Clary sage oil for the psyche

In der Aromatherapie wird Muskatellersalbeiöl gegen Depressionen eingesetzt.

Clary sage oil also used to have its place in the kitchen. It was mixed with alcoholic beverages such as beer or wine. However, this had little to do with taste preferences, but was rather intended to enhance the effect of the beverage in question: clary sage oil is considered a mood enhancer and can induce or intensify euphoric states of mind. A study confirms its antidepressant effect.

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For this reason, clary sage oil is still in circulation today as a remedy for depression and dejection. The essential oil is mainly used in aromatherapy. Its scent is said to lift the mood, relieve stress and anxiety, and stimulate creative thinking.

Caution: it is better not to use clary sage oil especially in combination with alcohol. Also, if you take medications that contain iron, there may be unpleasant interactions. Pregnant women should avoid therapies with clary sage oil altogether: In the worst case, it can trigger premature labor.

Author

  • James Jones

    Meet James Jones, a passionate gardening writer whose words bloom with the wisdom of an experienced horticulturist. With a deep-rooted love for all things green, James has dedicated his life to sharing the art and science of gardening with the world. James's words have found their way into countless publications, and his gardening insights have inspired a new generation of green thumbs. His commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship shines through in every article he crafts.

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