Scarlet sage
Salvia coccinea Buc'hoz ex Etl.
Also called scarlet sage, tropical sage, blood sage.
Airy native sage with spikes of tubular scarlet flowers from early summer to frost, one of the most reliable hummingbird plants for hot southern gardens. Short-lived, but reseeds into open soil.
Size over time
Typical landscape size 0.3–0.9 m (1–3 ft) tall and 0.3–0.6 m (12–24 in) wide; fast growth, about 2 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.45) from the #1 install size.
Bloom
Scarlet flowers, May–Nov (northern-hemisphere months; timing shifts with region and season).
| Plant | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet sage : May–Nov |
Design notes
- Grown as a reseeding annual north of zone 8; seed sown after frost blooms the same summer.
- Cut back leggy plants by half in midsummer for a second flush.
- Pink, white and coral selections exist.
Regions
Native range: Southeastern Coastal Plain from South Carolina to Florida and Texas, and tropical America.
Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:
Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.
In the guides
Scarlet sage comes up in these guides:
Related plants
Try Scarlet sage in a plan
Opens your own copy of a finished sample garden in the planner with Scarlet sage ready to place; the planner checks it against that garden’s zone, light and moisture.
Plan with Scarlet sage
Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.