Whats the difference between Russian Sage and Lavender?

[nao57]

So... I was doing research. And thought I knew everything already (Haha...). Then discovered I know less than I thought. They have this plant called Russian Sage. It looks and acts like lavender except it gets very big. It sort of does look like lavender. When i was at the store in the gardening section they had it, and I thought it was lavender at first. Then I'm shocked seeing the label.

And then when I went to go compare it to lavender, what I thought was lavender in some store parking lots might actually be Russian sage instead...

O.O

Have any of you tried growing Russian Sage before? When you look it up and look at the pics, you can be impressed by how abundant and thick and tall it gets. But by the same token, you might not want your front yard and front of the house swamped by only this 1 plant.

When I'd seen this plant before people told me its lavender grosso, which IS a VERY good TALLER variety lavender. So I'd put grosso lavender in my yard. But now what I've found is that what I was told before was lavender grosso might have been Russian sage instead. Russian sage gets bigger than lavender grosso, which is in the top of the size categories for lavender. If you want lavender, then lavender grosso is still probably the best variety in my opinion, that is if you want to stay in the 'lavender' area. I won't throw away my lavender grosso, and I still like it. Besides if I had something huge like Russian sage, it would get so big my other family members would be DISPLEASED by its size getting too big. So I won't switch...

But I'm curious to ask if Russian Sage is actually -> 'Russian Lavender'? How close is this plant to the lavender family? Or is it already in there. And curious what else you think on Russian Sage?

There's a 2nd plant also that can be mistaken for lavender also, but when you get close you can tell that its NOT lavender. Its not in the same family and doesn't smell the same either. (Forgot the name of this.)

 

[cpp gardener]

#1 SCENT! Russian Sage smells nothing at all like Lavender.
Lavender has flowers at the end of naked stems while Russian Sage has leaves up to and within the flower clusters.
Russian Sage has branched flower clusters; Lavender does not.

 

[nao57]

#1 SCENT! Russian Sage smells nothing at all like Lavender.
Lavender has flowers at the end of naked stems while Russian Sage has leaves up to and within the flower clusters.
Russian Sage has branched flower clusters; Lavender does not.

You are smart. Thank you for commenting. It seems like an interesting plant. If I had unlimited space I'd do Russian Sage. But I don't.

 

[BoPeep75]

I grow several types of Russian sage and several types of lavender. Bees love both, but prefer lavender in my yard. Lavender smells better, but Russian sage looks better to me because of the grey green foliage. I don't think they look that much alike except for spires of purple flowers. There are both small and large lavenders, and the same for Russian sage. I adore my lavender, but I would NOT go without Russian sage. I love that cool gray tone that goes so many other of my grey green plants. It makes pink, purple, and yellow flowers pop. Also, pruning lavender takes more time since I prune it twice a year instead of once like Russian sage.