Clary sage is unique, instantly recognizable:
The usual rough and somewhat disorganized basal leaves get it together by their second Spring, with an almost "Audrey II"-like bud, surveying the world before The Big Chomp...
....that (instead, whew) matures to a superb architectural candelabra almost three feet tall, of hundreds of pale pink-lavender flowers....
....each perched like the Alice In Wonderland caterpillar, on its own immaculate and comfy bract.
The one plant is a cast of characters, or at least what theater-folk call a "two-hander." It's a big show, and for a couple of months too. So what if the whole plant croaks afterwards; you'd be pooped after such a performance too. Seedlings appear reliably but not ad infinitum. (At least for me.) Clary sage is with you forever, and only in numbers you actually want. In short, heaven. Except, well, that color. Or rather, colors:
The bract hints at pink with the blue, whereas the bottom petal of the flower astrid it is (now that I look at the picture myself) white, with the top "Who are you?" caterpillar part a pale but pure blue. All interesting, but I wish it were in the Pink Borders with all of its pink-friendly brethren.  Instead, it's happily seeding between granite slabs in the Terrace, surrounded by yellows or even reds.  Drat.
Next Spring—and in this climate, salvia is definitely a Spring-transplant only—I need to moved some to the Pink Borders, and then rip out the rest. No, not because I don't want any Clary Sage near the Terrace. Because there's an all-white variety to plant, and I wouldn't want it to have sexual congress (via pollinating bees of course) with the pink & blue variety and, hence, have offspring that have, so to speak, lost their pure-white virginity.
It's all too appropriate, now that we're beswamped in this complexly unsavory sexual metaphor, that the all-white version is called, without irony let alone apology, Vatican White.
Talk about a "cast of characters."
Whatever. You can get Vatican White, as will I, at Digging Dog.  Hmm: It's just available now, this month.  Gotta order ASAP and hope it survives the shipping in this horrendous heat.