Salvia splendens Seeds | Scarlet Sage
.jpg "Scarlet Sage seeds (Salvia splendens)")
LATIN NAME: Salvia splendens
COMMON NAME: Scarlet Sage, Jewel of the Nile
Plant Profile
Salvia splendens, better known as Scarlet Sage, is a bushy, upright annual in the mint family, native to warm regions of Brazil, while it is grown around world as a brilliant bedding plant. Scarlet sage is one of brightest of bedding flowers of warm garden, and its long, brilliant-red spikes have made it a favourite of summer beds of the world. It is the sort of plant that quietly justifies the space it occupies.
Science & Biotechnology
Within the mint family, Salvia splendens is of continuing interest to researchers working on plant diversity, seed biology and the selection of improved garden forms. Species has also been studied in ecology, since it is a native of high, humid mountains of Brazil. In practice, its long garden history means the grower inherits a plant of known and dependable habits.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Scarlet Sage has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. Ecologically, scarlet sage is a generous plant of summer garden. Its vivid scarlet flowers feed hummingbirds and other pollinators, and its leafy growth gives cover, while it brings a glowing colour to border through a long season. For a grower, scarlet sage is an easy and dependable annual, and for a gardener it brings spikes of glowing scarlet through the summer. After the first season it asks for very little beyond a place that suits it.
Scarlet sage is the blazing red bedding salvia of parks and pollinator gardens, grown purely for its brilliant display.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed of Scarlet Sage under ordinary good conditions. Scatter the seed evenly over a loose seed compost, cover to no more than its own depth, and keep the pot moist and bright. When the young plants are big enough to handle, space them into pots or a nursery row and let them size up before their final move.
Our Take
Scarlet Sage repays a little patience at sowing time with plenty of garden presence later.
Related Reading
More species in the same orbit as Scarlet Sage: