Florida gardening: Tropical sage for red hot garden blooms when it’s hot

The long, sizzling, humid days of August can be rough on flowering plants in the landscape. Gardeners can choose to avoid the heat by putting the garden to bed and stay inside during the hottest part of the day.  

Avoiding the heat by staying inside is smart. However, performing landscape maintenance early or late in the day keeps the landscape looking nice. Some plants thrive in the heat and reward the gardener with lovely blooms. 

Salvias are some of my favorite plants for Florida summer gardens. There are more than 900 species that make up the genus Salvia, and most are known by the common name "sage." They are worldwide in distribution in temperate and tropical areas with centers of diversity in Central and Southwestern Asia and Central and South America. 

Known as scarlet sage, tropical sage, or blood sage, Salvia coccinea is a short-lived perennial found growing throughout most of Florida, the southeastern U.S., west to Texas, and southward to South America and the West Indies.  

A member of the mint family, tropical sage has leaves opposite each other on the stem. Each pair of leaves are at a 90-degree angle to the previous pair. The leaves are triangular, fuzzy grey/green and are 2- to 4-inches long with scalloped margins and long petioles. 

The showy flowers are on loose spikes that are held well above the foliage. Individual flowers are small, three-fourths to 1-inch long, with two lips in bright shades of scarlet and pink. There is also a white selection. Blooms appear from early summer until the first cold weather, which means in south Florida, flowers are seen all year sporadically. 

Tropical sage grows as a perennial in USDA Hardiness Zones 8–11 and will take some cold, but it is tender to frosts and freezes. The rest of the country grows it as a warm-season annual. Choose a location for planting in full sun or light, shifting shade for the best plant growth and bloom color. 

This Salvia grows well on just about any soil, including sandy, poor soils. It will grow in moist and dry conditions after a period of establishment. Drainage is a must; wet or areas that flood should be avoided. Best flowering and growth occur with regular watering. 

The plants grow 2- to 4-feet tall and 2-feet wide under good conditions. Use them in a wildflower meadow, pollinator gardens, as background plants in beds and in containers. Tropical sage readily reseeds and tends to pop up around the landscape.  

Harvest the seedlings to install in new beds or to increase the volume in existing plantings. Cut back when flowering slows or at the beginning of spring for a tidier look and to renewed flowering. 

Topical sages offer pretty blooms in the hot summer garden and much-needed food to butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators. Grow this beauty for the red, hot flowers and to attract butterflies to your space. 

Carol Cloud Bailey is a landscape counselor and horticulturist. Send questions to carol@yard-doc.com or visit www.yard-doc.com for more information.