Salvia coccinea
(Tropical Sage)
Common Names, Latin Name, and Family
Tropical sage, blood sage, red sage, and red salvia.
Salvia coccinea
It is found in the Lamiaceae, or mint, family.
Form
Tropical sage is a native, perennial, wildflower that grows to a height of 3 to 4 feet.
It prefers part shade with average soil moisture.
It will grow in full sun but will wilt in the afternoon heat if it’s not watered regularly.
Red salvia (my preferred common name) has a special place in my heart because it was the very first native wildflower I ever grew.
Leaves
Opposite, stalked, and ovate with toothed margins.
When the plant is flowering there are no basal leaves and the leaves are found along the stem.
Flowers
The brilliant red flowers appear all year.
The flowers have two lips with the lower one having two lobes.
Habitat
Tropical sage is found occurring naturally in thickets, disturbed sites and forest edges.
Native Range
It is found in all of Florida west to Texas, north to South Carolina and in the West Indies and tropical America.
It is native to the following states AL, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, OH, SC, and TX.
Landscape Use
In the home landscape it grows in part shade with average soil moisture.
It will grow in full sun but will wilt in the afternoon heat if it’s not watered often.
I prefer to grow it in part shade because it doesn’t require too much attention unless there are periods of drought.
It’s not picky about soil type and will grow in rich soil or poor sandy soil.
Do not over fertilize. Most wildflowers do not do well with too much fertilizer. A little bit of weak liquid kelp and chicken manure tea is what I use.
It is a great wildflower for container gardens.
Wildlife Uses
The flowers are a source of nectar for many small insects including butterflies, bee flies, bumblebees, flower flies, wasps, and bees.
The red tubular flowers are a favorite of the ruby-throated hummingbird.
The ripe and unripe seeds and vegetation are eaten by songbirds and squirrels.
Propagation
Tropical sage can be grown from seeds or transplants. If you find seedlings coming up you can gently pull them out and transplant or put into pots.
The seeds can be direct sown or started in starter pots and planted out later.
I like to collect seeds and sprinkle them in and around existing flowers or flower pots.
Collect the seed pods once they start to turn brown. Not every single one has to be brown, but when the lower ones start to turn the upper ones may still be green because they ripen from the bottom of the stalk up, but the will be viable.
Place them somewhere to dry before you remove the seeds from the pods. Once they dry the pods and seeds will shrink slightly so the seeds will fall out very easily. Inside in the air conditioning is best to avoid mold and mildew and provide a speedier desiccation of the pods. My favorite container is a white dishpan. They are big enough to spread the stalks out and the white helps me to keep an eye out for bugs that might start to infest the seeds. I can also see the tiny spiders that I need to rescue and take back outside.
