Sage .. Salbei

sage flowers - little things with a great power

Sage flowers, Salbei, seeji　セージ、Salvia microphylla
Salvia, Scarlet sage, Salvia splendens, サルビア sarubia
kigo for late summer

some saijiki place it as a kigo for all autumn.


The flowers are seen rather long, from July till November.
It is the birthday flower for people born on August 31 and October 4.
salvea, in Latin language, means "health, healing". It was a powerful herb in olden times.

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Sage, the herb, in Ireland (and quite probably in the UK too) would be a Christmas kigo.

The traditional Christmas turkey is stuffed with a bread stuffing amply seasoned with onion and sage. In our town on Christmas Eve, both batch bread and dried sage powder completely sell out, and we have sometimes had to tour several shops before my sister could find both of them. The lesson of the story is, of course "Shop Early for Christmas"...!

To quote : "The flavour may be described as warm, pungent, slightly bitter with a hint of camphor... The combination of sage and onion for stuffing poultry is very well known. Sage is frequently used with rich and fatty dishes such as roast pork and eel, and is especially recommended with duck."
The Complete Book of Herbs and Spices, Claire
Loewenfeld and Philippa Back, 1978.

sage, she said --
there's an old jar of sage
behind these books!

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Mugwort, yomogi 蓬 （よもぎ）
Artemisia princeps
kigo for all spring

Not to be mixed up with sage, it is a completely different plant.


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