Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red'

Sunset

Zones 12-30, H1, H2

Full

Moderate

Tropical Sage
Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Annuals, Perennials

SALVIA

All sages have square stems and whorls of two-lipped flowers, either distinctly spaced along flower stalks or so tightly crowded that they look like one dense spike; some species have branched inflorescences. Flower colors range from white and yellow through salmon and pink to scarlet and pure red, from pale lavender to true blue and darkest purple. A few sages have fragrant blossoms. Many have aromatic foliage. Sages attract hummingbirds, bees, butterflies.

Salvia coccinea

Usually grown as an annual. Bushy, upright; to 2–3 ft. tall, 2 1/2 ft.wide. Dark green, hairy, oval to heartshaped leaves to 2 1/2 in. long. In summer, slender stems to 1 ft. long carry many 3/4–1-in. flowers with broad lower lip. Colors range from bright red through orange red to pink and white, including many bicolors. Widely used as bedding plant, border filler. Stems are brittle; shelter from wind. Deadhead to encourage rebloom. Naturalized and weedy in Hawaii.

'Lady in Red'

Scarlet flowers.