Transatlantic award winners – Two new Salvias
March 06, 2012
OK, continuing my quick look at award winning seed-raised plants from both sides of the Atlantic, we continue with two different varieties of Hummingbird Sage, or Texas Sage, Salvia coccinea.
The Summer Jewel Series of varieties of Salvia coccinea have won awards on both sides of the Atlantic this year. ‘Summer Jewel Red’ is a Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner in Europe, while 'Summer Jewel Pink' is an All-America Selection.
Salvia coccinea varieties combine elegance and color; they’re altogether more relaxed in the way they grow than the traditional dumpy bedding salvias and are ideal in large containers and in sunny mixed borders.
In general, the Summer Jewel Series is more compact that earlier varieties, but not at all short and squat; they reach about 18in/45cm high and as the season develops bushes out broadly to as much as 24in/60cm across. They also flower earlier, with longer spikes and so combine color and style. Both are very appealing to bees and hummingbirds and in mild climates (zone 7b and above), both may behave as perennials.
Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Red’
Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner ‘Summer Jewel Red’ (above, click to enlarge) features long scarlet spikes which are dramatic without being crudely garish and bring a little X to bright contrasting plantings. (The plants in the picture may have been treated with a growth regulator but will soon stretch.) It flowers about three weeks earlier than the taller ‘Lady in Red’.
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Salvia 'Summer Jewel Pink
All-America Selection 'Summer Jewel Pink' (right, click to enlarge) is a much softer shade, a pink and white bicolor, which is lovely in pastel combinations and which is shorter and flowers about two weeks earlier than the more familiar ‘Coral Nymph’.
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For more on All-America Selections and Fleuroselect, see my earlier post.