Salvia ID

15 years ago

I live in central Florida where the weather is hot and humid. There is a perennial bed at a nearby public facility where two salvias are blooming and thriving. I have seeds germinating from one plant and cuttings from another (I was there when the maintenance crew was pruning and they allowed me to take a branch from the debris pile). For each I've included pictures of the general plant, the leaf, and the flower.

I'm hoping someone can tell me what type of salvias I'm growing.

The bed in which they are growing is in full sun. The soil is sandy in this area although it may have been amended for the flowers.

Below are pictures of salvia #1. The flower color is deep pink. The plant is about 18" tall. The leaves are green on both sides and without hairs.

Salvia #2 is below. It seems to be a very sturdy plant. The leaves are larger than those on salvia #1. Overall height is about 3 1/2 feet. At the junction of the leaf to the stalk, there is some burgundy coloration and this burgundy can be seen on the underside of the leaf in part of the main vein. Both sides of this leaf are also green and there are no hairs.

This one is growing among other plants so I wasn't able to get a good overall picture.

Thanks for looking - June

Comments (4)

robinmi_gw
15 years ago
Probably quite wrong, but I would suggest that the 1st Salvia is a form of Salvia coccinea (which is very variable), and that the 2nd one is very likely to be Salvia miniata....the foliage gives this away.

Robin.
rich_dufresne
15 years ago
I agree with Robin totally.
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jimcrick
15 years ago
The S. miniata looks ever so healthy. This year my young rooted cuttings have struggled to get going with their leaves looking very sorry for themselves.I know Robin has had the same experience and we guess it is down to the cold weather of the last couple of months. We will possibly get a late summer before too long and then it could get too dry for them! They like a rich and cool soil and a slight bit of shade. I usually plant them with their bottoms in the shade (i.e. amongst other plants)and heads in the sun. I guess the humidity of Florida suits them admirably.

Jim
juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you all. I had thought #1 looked like coccinea but the dark pink color and the density of the plant caused me to think otherwise. I already have the white, blush pink, and red varieties of coccinea in my garden but their leaves are spaced farther apart.

Because of its height, I was planning on planting what you have ID'd as miniata on the east side of my house. From your input, it seems like that will be ideal.

Of course a gardener doesn't propagate just one. The garden club to which I belong is having a plant sale in October to benefit our scholarship fund so the extras will be sold there. I'm grateful I'll be able to more specifically identify my plants.

Once again, thanks for lending your expertise - June