Other easy salvias are s. coccinea white Nymph and s. coccinea 'Lady in Red' and then so many others .....

oh... I really like Branthurst... more pinker than Coral Nymph, kind of an apple pink.

I grow coral nymph among the roses. In the morning they are covered with little finches and hummers.

Yes, there are quite a few types out there. I grow one called Dreamsicle who's flowers look like Coral Nymph but it is a monster, growing as tall as 7 feet in improved soil. It is a late bloomer but once it gets underway, look out. Folks down in the deep south are working with a lavender colored one who's color isn't stable. Whatever type you grow you can expect them to be happy, they are one of the easiest plants to grow.

This is also my first year of salvias. If you like coral nymph you would love lady in red. I have both and could post photos so you could see a comparison.

I actually prefer Coral Nymph over Lady in Red. When both were done blooming (and deadheaded), all of my LIR had gotten extremely ratty looking, but the CN foliage remained beautiful as did it's reblooms, unlike the LIR. Is this the norm, or just in my garden, lol...

I some bad luck in my first year of germination and growing of salvia and others. I had several lady in red that did very well, but none of my coral nymph survived nor any agastache although I knew what I did wrong with the latter and now have some shades of orange growing in the ground but they may not have enough time to stabilize and make it. I have 8 or 9 plants of black and blue that bloomed all summer and the hummers love those. I also have greggi magenta and primrose , wish I had more magenta. I also have gotten into cuphea david verity which have done pretty well even with the japaneese beetle invasion. But next year is another year and I learned a lot for my first year of growing salvia and my hummer garden.

The white nymph one is bright white and would be a great contrast to many of the brighter ones.

Thanks for all the ideas. Since I orginally posted this message, I've added several salvias -- mostly from seed with the newest (still a seedling) being Blue Angel. I have two on order from High Country Garden - Salvia reptens which has blue flowers and salvia x Maraschino which is cherry red -- they should arrive this week. This is still a favorite plant for me and they garden is full of coral nymph that reseed everywhere (and I love it).

JR

Coral Nymph roots very readily from cuttings - I brought one inside last fall and by spring had two plants because it had strayed into another pot and rooted there. I'll bring one in again in a couple of weeks - they bloom all winter in a south window.
I am also going to try cuttings of salvia ulignosa - love those tall spikes of tiny bright blue flowers. There is a whole cloud of them in the back garden, mixed up with white cosmos. In front they don't get as much sun and have straggled but are still flowering away.

Now that its all over Im happy to say my LIR, black and blue did extremely well and are still blooming strong. My coral nymph just seemed to die out , but I will try those again next year. I also had some shades of orange left over and germinated those and was able to grow them but wasnt happy with the size of the flowers and may discontinue those.

I bought a plant of this about 4 years ago. It was in a planter and was a beautiful plant. The following year I had volunteers of this come up in another planter (both on the same patio), and in a flower bed 20 yards away!! For the last 2 years it comes up in my patio literally; it grows from an expansion crack. Now it's coming up again! This plant is supposed to be rated zone 8 as a perennial, but as far as I'm concerned it's one tough little beauty!

Sallydad:
The concrete will radiate heat at night so you maybe getting
a false positive.
Mine did not take our 72 hours at 17 degrees. They had been established for 5 years (lost all of the established plants). The seed came up from years of seeding out so I did not lose my stand of S.coccinea "Coral Nymph" the seedlings are the same size as the parents.
Art

Art,

What kind of mulch do you have your S. Coccinea "Coral Nymph" planted in that it produces seedlings? I have some Coral Nymph planted in my backyard in Austin, mulched with Texas hardwood mulch. I'm hoping that they will seed out, since they seem to be quite happy there. Will I have much success with volunteer plants? Thx.

Good question. At home in my sandy soil and on decomposed leaves atop garden fabric they usually volunteer quite well. My only experience with woodchip type mulch is around greggii and microphylla and both depending on the cultivar volunteer quite well. I would think coccinea would be no different, but probably better since they produce a lot more seed.

Gardenhorn:
I have mine mulched w/"Texas Native" Hardwood. it was mulch from the previous year. They came up easily. The mulch that
most Salvias prefer to germinate in is decomposed granite.
Art

The only coccinea that has ever volunteered for me is LIR. But I love coral nymph as its beautifull flowers give a nice contrast.

I dont have the option where I live but my sister grew lady in red in filtered sunlight and it became a monster plant crawling upon to the shelter with leaves so heavy they were breaking off. I may not have believed this had I not seen it for myself since my plants grown in full sun never get that big or crazy. Im also guessing that coral nymph would also benefit from filtered sunlight.