Hi!
It's either a greggii, microphylla, or microphylla-greggii cross. If the margins on the leaves are scalloped it's got microphylla in it.
Cait

No scalloping, but the leaves are larger than the neighboring greggii, otherwise similar. But the sort-of-cone-shape to that upper lip has me stumped.... much less the coloring.

It's not furman's red? it sure does look like it.Sarah

Here's a picture I took of it last month it looks like yours also it changes at different angles and if the sun's out

`No, it's not Furman's Red. The bottom lip is closed, and the top lip is more purple than my photo shows....the two parts are definitely two different colors AND are irridescent.

Maybe you have a self-sown seedling, and in that case you could name it yourself. I've got a couple of really nice ones out in my meadow that came up next to S. 'Red Velvet' and 'Cherry Queen'. They've clearly got greggii and microphylla in their gene pools but both the leaves and flowers are different from the parents. 'Plum Wine' is another one that seeds for me.

Yes, it may be a cross of my plants, but I would like to make sure before making claims.

I pretty much keep track of salvias I planted, although I admit that at times I rack my brain trying to remember how other plants got there. Once my non-gardener husband transplanted a wild aster in full bloom into one of my beds. I really thought I was losing it that time.

None of the red cultivars I've seen have that particular two toned variation you show in your photo, although flower colors could vary some given the differences in our climates. Have you posted the photo on the salvia list group?

Karen: what is the "Salvia List group" ? If I were to repost I would try to get a better photo showing the definite different colors.

It's a discussion group -- I belong to it but haven't kept up in a while. When I need an expert though, that's where I head. If they haven't seen it, it's probably new.

Here is a link that might be useful: salvias

AH.... I also technically belong to that Forum but seldom go there because I find it hard to use. I guess I could try posting my photos there. Thanks for the reminder.

Westelle:
It looks alot like the two-tone Jamensis I purchased at Morningsun Herb Farm in Vacaville. You might send the photo to her.

One of the above images suggests S. greggii `Raspberry Royale', but the upper hood is the same color as the lower lip. S. greggii `Diane is more of a red-purple, with the upper hood a bit bluer.

The blue-red balance on these images makes it difficult to identify particular varieties via digital camera images, especially through the web. Color monitors have to be set up for color balance. This is usually set up in absolute degrees (Kelvin) to relate to the black-body radiation temperature. The lower the temperature, the redder the tint, and the higher the number, the bluer the tint. Ambient light and the age of your monitor also have an effect.

Try matching the colors to the two color charts below

{{gwi:1248303}}

{{gwi:1248304}}

Hi Richard,

Just a FYI: Your photos are not coming through for me on this forum.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Thanks.
John R in Austin

I can't see them either.

Me either!! I was thinking of going to the library to see if I could view it there.

I had to perform a work-around to get them to work.

I right-clicked on the empty boxes, chose "properties", then copied and pasted the URLs ( {{gwi:1248303}} & {{gwi:1248304}} ) into a new browser window.

That seemed to work for me, but I'm unsure why.

Brenda

To add my images to my posts, I am pasting in the information using HTML code:

img SRC="http://www.website.com/image1.jpg"; braced by immediately before and after the phrase, with no spaces.

This seems to work for Mozilla Firefox on MS Windows XP. Perhaps this does not work for other browsers.

Here is a link that might be useful: How can I post an image or picture to the forum?

Richard and Phoebe: I will need to research your suggestions to see what might be correct. I just got back from a trip and found all your feedback. Thanks!