susanlynne:
I have had S.coccinea "Forest Fire" for two years.
The black calyx realy sets the flowers apart from LIR
I am hoping for some "Coral Nymph" seedlings w/the black Calyx also.
Art

I've ordered from him, as well. He sells a lot of hummingbird plants, at decent prices. "Luis Sasso" should be a winter bloomer (form of Salvia iodantha), so I'm not sure how it would fare for you. My iodantha from Annie's has bloomed profusely, but I've never had a bloom from my "Luis Sasso"; maybe this winter it will oblige. S. puberula has just started blooming in my garden. Both of these appreciate some shade here in California. As to the reseeding... I've found seeds, presumably only because my Anna's hummers (pollinators) stick around all winter. In your climate, reseeding is doubtful.

I also like S. coccinea 'Forest Fire' very much, but it's not a preferred salvia of CA hummingbirds, humph!

That's exactly why I was asking about these Salvias in particular. Sometimes the sellers note that they are winter bloomers in their descriptions of their plants, but sometimes they forget to add that info. So forget those two Salvias, 'Louis Saso' and puberula (blooms too late for my temperate climate).

Art, OMG! Pink & White and Black calyxes? That would be "to die for". I love 'Coral Nymph' for the reason that the Cloudless Sulphurs adore it, but none came back from seed this year, darn it! It really is a carefree Salvia, too. It's been reseeding in my garden for the past 8 years or so, but none this year. Our winter may have been too hard for the seeds to survive.

Even if the hummers don't choose to use it, I will still include it in the garden simply because it is such a startling, beautiful true Red. You know what the hummers loved in my garden this year? Dwarf Red Porterweed. I ordered it from Bustani Plant Farms to try out, and OMG! They went crazy for it. The flowers encircle the stems, so it was funny to watch them going round and round and round. I will definitely grow this one again.

If you get the Coral Nymph plants to go for you, I'd love to see the photos. Guess it won't be called Coral Nymph any more then, huh? LOL!

Susan

Susan,
I wouldn't discount S. puberula just yet. Mine blooms late here in NC zone 7a but puts on quite the show late in the season. It's generally still looking pretty dramatic at Thanksgiving as the blooms hold up well to those early brief frosts down to 30 degrees that zap so many other plants in my garden. I grow mine in about a half day sun This year it's relatively short b/o the record heat this summer, but usually it blooms at somewhere between 5-7'. The iodanthas are a little too late though, and are just coming into bloom when they get cut back by cold weather, so I enjoy those blooms in the greenhouse.
Karen

Thanks, Karen, I will add that back to my list now. The images reflect this is a gorgeous plant, but I'm wondering if it will be in bloom for the hummer migration???? Mine are gone now, having left around the 3rd week in September. I thought they might stay around awhile since it really hasn't been that cold here yet, and may not get as cold as last winter.

Summer heat? My oh my! It started mid-May here in Oklahoma and did not let up unti the 1st of September here. Along with that came the high humidity, and between the two, I had extremely low tomato production because of it. The tomatos are setting fruit like crazy now, though - probably in time for frost! LOL!

I barely got any bloom at all from 'Cherry Queen' and 'Hot Lips', but my 'Black and Blue' really put on a show this year and is still blooming heavily. Of course, 'Lady in Red' is blooming its head off, too. I've been trying to concentrate this summer on the "reds" for the hummers.

Susan

Yes, when temperatures get into the mid 90s tomatoes don't set fruit.
While most cultivars of coccinea put out true to form seed occasionally crosses do occur, including black calyxes on Coral Nymph look a likes. My problem with coccinea in really hot weather is they shut down nectar production by afternoon and the hummingbirds must look elsewhere.
I am not surprised the Cherry Queen and Hot Lips didn't want to bloom for you in the summer heat. We had a bad summer here in south Jersey too - not just high heat but almost no rain. Most of the microphylla/greggii types slowed to a stop in the worst of it. The quickest to pick up again after a brief rain in early August was greggii Wild Thing. The couple of unnamed microphylla types also kept blooming moderately all summer.

You do know that hummingbird preference for red is a old wives tale. All hummingbirds seem to really care about is high sugar percentage generally in a flower shape that excludes their main competition - bees