Anybody able to identify this one?
Anyone, please guess specie(s)/cultivar?
It looks a lot to me like Salvia microphylla var. neurepia. Does it get tall and have a strong fruity scent?
Not particularly tall, maybe 3 feet high, 4 feet wide, big rounded clump. No particularly fruity fragrance to it at all.
Hot Lips Salvia. I have one and it is huge.
Cynni
If the flowers always are red, it is unlikely to be Hot Lips, which usually develops a white zone by now. The foliage is not right for Hot Lips, either. Other possibilities are Hoja Grande and the deltoid-leaved form, and some greggii - microphylla hybrids.
Thanks for your attempt, Cynni_G. My photo is not so great. A better shot would show that this one's leaf is longer, more deeply veined, more chartreuse than that of 'Hot Lips'. The plant overall is chunkier and denser than 'Hot Lips', and again, not a great photo, the flower color is actually a hot coral pink.
Thanks again!
Hi,
I am with Richard...its' neurepia. I have three of them in my garden and they are identical to the photo posted.
Andy
Thanks Andy, that had been my first and only guess too, nice to have two corroborations. It's a wonderful plant, just keeps on flowering and flowering.
Since there is no photo for salvia neurepia in Plant Files,it would be good to have that one posted there........just a thought.
This message was edited Jun 4, 2008 7:36 PM
I may be quite wrong, but I think the name "neurepia" may no longer be valid, and that the correct name for this plant is Salvia microphylla var. microphylla. It was also named Salvia microphylla var. grahamii or just Salvia grahamii for a while. I have a similar Salvia, now called Salvia microphylla 'Kew Red'. Betsy Clebsch mentions these naming problems on pp. 194-5 in her book. It is all a bit of a muddle!
But whatever it is, it's a good one!
I've encountered that info also. Mine was still called neurepia when I acquired it so the confusion will probably continue for quite some time.
It is still sold in California as neurepia...I think it is the same plant as Kew Red. Just when you think you are finally catching up on nomenclature, there is something new to learn. Now if we could just keep the scumbags at Euro-American and Proven Winners to stop trademarking species of Salvias with new and exciting names instead of their proper latin names.
I got Salvia microphylla var. neurepia a long time ago from Yucca-Do, and passed it around to a lot of nurseries.
Mass marketers will fail unless they find a truly low-maintenance plant. Most native species won't qualify, and if robust enough, often prove to be invasive. They need plants from breeders to meet their parameters, and hopefully won't steal them from unwary breeders.
I doubt they will have breeding programs of their own, since they are primarily pickers of low-hanging fruit. At my old research organization, my friends have to suffer from implementing B.I.F.F. - big ideas for free, which is a concept from marketing research.
If you are lucky enough to create a really marketable sage, get it registered under a plant patent and at least get a reward for your efforts. There are feasible ways to do this.
Just say "NO!" to using trademarked names. No matter how large and shiny the marketing machine is that's looming behind the plant, trying to twist a profit from obfuscation.