Salvia coccinea - sage, scarlet

Height: 1’ to 3’
Spread: 1’ to 2.5’
Light Needs: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Flower color: Red
Bloom time: Summer

This plant is a perennial that grows as an annual in South Carolina. One local SCNPS member places a dormant plant in a garage over winter and takes it out in spring after the risk of freeze. It is considered by some to be native to the Coastal Plain but others believe it was brought to South Carolina many years ago from Texas and Mexico. It has bright red flowers that are an inch long and arranged in loose whorls along the upright stem. It flowers continuously from early summer to the first frost. It is appropriate for a formal garden, for a container and for a pollinator garden. It tolerates drought but will flower more abundantly with watering during dry spells. It attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.