Tricolor
Sage in the UK
With its variegated green, white, and pink leaves, Tricolor is a real showstopper. It grows well outdoors and adds fantastic visual interest to the plot.
Sow window for Sage generally.
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How to grow it
You can get started with Sage from April right through May. If you're sowing varieties that prefer indoors, get them in a tray on a warm windowsill or in the greenhouse, about 1 cm deep. For those hardy outdoor types, wait until the soil's warmed up a bit and pop them straight into the ground, same depth. Give them a bit of space, say 10 cm apart for now, you can thin them out later. It needs a bit of warmth to get going, like I say, so don't be too keen if it's still chilly outside.
Once your indoor seedlings have a couple of true leaves, it's time to prick them out into individual small pots. Let them grow on strong, then get them hardened off properly for a week or two in a cold frame before planting them out. Don't rush them out before the last frost, especially up here in the North East, that's usually mid to late May. Space them about 45-60 cm apart. If you've got a compact variety, a nice big pot on the patio works a treat, too.
More Sage varieties
Track your Sage from packet to plate
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 3 September 2026.