No idea, but telling us where the garden was would help others.

Salvia scutellarioides? This is ground-cover plant. If you are in the South of France, it should be hardy there.

Thank you for the answers.

It is at the new Jardin du Paillon at Nice. West end northern lane.

Alas, not scutellarioides. Leaves are longer and more rounded at petiole end. Flower spikes longer and more dense.

Salvia nana???

Thanks you much for helping even if you are getting colder cabin.

By groundcover I was meaning with complete cover dense foliage few salvias qualify for. This foliage is about 1,5 foot high and composed of elongated cordiform some 6 inch long leaves. Flower spikes rise another foot. Cordiform or heart shaped is for the two very rounded base lobes and the pointed end. More elongated than joined picture 2 below the one I inserted mistakenly and do not know how to delete.

After looking at a lot of photos the best candidate I found is macrophylla Tingo Blue. Dense large soft foliage and flower spike form are quite similar if not identical.

Thanks for the helpers that had a hard time without photos.

I collected some seeds (rather big shining black freely produced) and someday I will go back there and take photos.

Pierre, I have a Tingo Blue and it would definitely qualify as a ground cover. Mine covered a 4' x 5' area in the garden. The cold has killed it, but I do have a small seedling that I am overwintering in the garden shed. The flowers are a beautiful shade of blue aren't they?

If not that young I am a new at Salvias. Now I have a place with adequate soil and this TB foliage density was outstanding for beginner me. Flower and color are nice but not so abundant then.

In the first year I grow no more than one hundred sp & vars. Nothing comparable with a serious collector. I will add 50 to 100 new ones excluding the too big too much frost tender or winter flowerers.