Silver sage has pillows of softly felted leaves that lie on the surface of the soil in a swirl or rosette the first year of growth—admired for their silvery, light-reflecting ways. Then, in the second year, flowering stalks push upward to three feet and burst forth with a candelabra of white flowers that seem to celebrate the end of the long wait devoid of bloom. Cut back the flowering stalk after flowering to help it become perhaps a short-lived perennial, or allow nature to take its course, ripening seeds and letting them fall to be ready for the next season.