Salvia splendens

Plant Characteristics

Habit		herbaceous
Height:	⇕	8 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 8. to 48 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 48.
Width:	⇔	8 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 8. to 32 in"in" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 32.
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Bloom:	❀	early spring, mid spring, late spring, early summer, mid summer, late summer

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	sun
Features:	✓	flowers
USDA Zones:		9 to 11
Flower features:	❀	red, blue, purple, pink, white

Scientific Names

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Salvia splendens (Scarlet Sage or Tropical Sage) is a species of sage native to Brazil.

It is a sub-shrubby or herbaceous perennial plant growing to 1 m tall. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, elliptical, up to 7 cm long and 5 cm broad, with a toothed margin. The flowers grow on erect spikes up from the center of the plant in clusters of 2-6 together at each leaf node; they are bright red, tubular to bell-shaped, up to 35 mm long, with two lobes at the apex, the larger, upper lobe up to 13 mm long.

It is widely grown as an ornamental plant, with a large number of cultivars, such as Bonfire, selected for different flower color from white to dark purple. It is a tropical species which does not survive freezing temperatures as a plant, but can be grown in colder climates as an annual, reseeding itself very easily and requiring very little care. It likes full sun in cooler climates but may need partial shade during particularly hot summers.

The main pests are slugs, which can be a problem in moist environments.

Read about Salvia splendens in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Salvia splendens, Ker-Gawl. (S. colorans, Hort. S. brasiliensis, Spreng.). Scarlet Sage. Tender shrub or subshrub, treated as an annual, about 3 ft. high: st. shrubby with glabrous branches: lvs. petiolate, ovate, acuminate, crenate-serrate, base cuneate, rotundate or cordate, both surfaces glabrous; floral lvs. ovate, acuminate, colored: racemes terminal, spikelike, 6 in. or more long; floral whorls about 2-fld. (2- rarely 6-fld.), about 30 fls. in a raceme; calyx campanulate, membranaceous, scarlet, glabrous or villous, teeth 3, broad-ovate, acute; corolla scarlet, glabrous. Autumn. Brazil. Var. alba, Hort., has creamy white fls. Var. atropurpurea, Hort., a form with dark violet-purple fls. Var. atrosanguinea, Hort., has deep crimson fls. Var. bicolor, Hort., with large spikes of scarlet-and-white fls. Var. Bruanti, Hort., dwarfer than the type in habit and brighter scarlet fls. Var. compacta, Hort., dwarfer habit, racemes thicker and more numerous, fls. brilliant scarlet. Var. compacta alba, Hort., a whitish variant of the preceding variety. Var. compacta erecta, Hort., a dwarf form with dark scarlet fls. Var. grandiflora, Hort., is a tall-growing large-fld. form. The following variants of this variety are offered: Var. grandiflora erecta, Hort. Var. grandiflora nana, Hort. Var. grandiflora pendula, Hort. Var. grandiflora prostrata, Hort. Var. Issanchon, Hort. (S. brasiliensis var. Issanchon, Hort.), has the calyx white, striped red and a rose-white corolla, habit similar to var. compacta. Var. nana, Hort., is a dwarf form, rather early flowering, the fls. bright red. Var. purpurea, Hort., is offered in the trade. Var. pyramidalis, Hort., is offered in the trade. Var. roseo-carminea, Hort., is offered in the trade. Var. semperflorens, Hort., is characterized as an early and continuous-flowering form. Var. Souchetii, Planch. (S. Souchetii, Hort.), is probably the same as var. compacta. There is a white- fld. variant of this variety known in the trade as S. Souchetii var. alba, Hort. Var. violacea, Hort., is offered in the trade.—S. nana, HBK., is a valid species belonging to Section 7. It is herbaceous, with a perpendicular, thickened tuberous root, almost stemless, with subsessile radical lvs. forming a rosette, and blue fls. Mex. Probably not in cult. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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