It is likely to be a S. microphylla, such as San Carlos Festival or La Trinidad. How large are the basal leaves, and what is the shape of these lower leaves?

Remy;
Looks like S.microphylla or a hybrid. The distance between
the nodes reminds me of S. x Red Velvet and some of its
seedlings. Where did you get your plant from?
Also a very nice cuphea in the background.
Art

Thanks guys. It does look like a S. microphylla plant.
There are no basal leaves to speak of. It has actually taken on a woody shrub appearance! I didn't even realize that. I started if from seed this winter. I got the seed from a plant at a farm last year. I swiped about 6 seeds. The farm is one that caters to a high end clientele so unusual annuals can sometimes be seen there.
Here's a pic of the base of the plant.

Here's another pic of the flowers that didn't come out right. The camera is not catching the deep velvety quality of the flowers. Of course trying to take pics late in the day is probably not helping.

I forgot to say the plant has a culinary sage type scent, not that really funky scent some have.

Art,
Thanks about the cuphea! It has grown great. Here's pic.

Remy

I'm going to say it is San Carlos Festival, based on the smaller basal foliage, and the degree of saturation of the flower. La trinidad has broader at the base foliage that is also larger, and the flower is lighter in color.

Rich,
I went looking at photos and I think you are right. Thank you!
Remy

Does San Carlos Festival produce seed, and if so, does it come true from seed? I have read on the forum where some say it is sterile and others say it has produced a cross, and others have said it produces seed, but few. Any success in growing this true from seed?

Susan

Hi Susan,
I can't say for 100% sure what I grew is San Carlos Festival, but nothing else matches it as perfectly as San Carlos Festival. If it isn't, it is close enough for me : ) I of course grew it from just a few seed I snagged.
I unfortunately did not save seed. I did bring my plant in and hopefully I can keep it alive until next spring.
Remy

Darn, I was hoping to find seed! Heehee! I also want to get S. subrotunda again. Nothing from seed did spectacularly well this year. I wintersowed them in early March, and they came up fine. I had problems keeping them going due to our weather extremes, though. One day it would be 60s or 70s and the next 30s and 40s. It was a really strange spring. I don't have a greenhouse, so I was constantly moving containers around to more protective cover and then back out again. Moving up to 100 soda bottles of my temperate sowings around is just downright frustrating, too, not to mention what the neighbors may have been thinking about all these strange plastic bottle outcroppings in my yard. I was getting very confused, which is not too difficult in a normal spring, LOL!

Can't wait to start ordering things!

Susam

Lol, no, no seed. If I had some, I would definitely share : ) It took awhile to come into its own. So hopefully, I can keep it alive over the winter and then next year, it will bloom sooner.
Too bad about your temperature swings we get them here a lot so I understand. I also understand about being confused in the spring, lol, so much to do!
Remy

San Carlos Festival does set some seed and sometimes the seedlings inherit its hardiness but I have not seen one to exactly match the parent. This isn't surprising since San Carlos must be vegetatively propagated. Yours was grown from seed, right? If you can winter your plant indoors you might just have a monster next year, some microphylla can grow surprisingly large. I wish I was home so I could go out and take a look at the San Carlos patch. I am pretty sure the flower stalks on my San Carlos are much shorter, a nice quality since the plant doesn't get congested with spent stalks.