Salvia coccinea (blood sage)

Japanese name: サルビア コクシネア
Scientific name: Salvia coccinea

[Overview]
A perennial to subshrub up to 1.2 m tall.
In regions where it dies back in winter cold, it is treated as an annual.
Leaves are simple and opposite, ovate, about 7.5 cm long and 5 cm wide.
The undersides of the leaves have grayish white hairs.
The leaf margins are serrated.
Verticillasters at the stem tips bear red, lipped flowers.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by stem cuttings.
Germination requires a temperature of about 20°C, so sow in late April or later when the temperature rises.
The seeds need light to germinate, so sow them in seed-sowing soil without covering them with soil, and water from the bottom so the soil does not dry out.
It can overwinter outdoors if not exposed to frost, and even if the aboveground part dies back in winter, it will sprout again in spring as long as it does not freeze.
If freezing is a concern, protect plants in the ground by, for example, laying straw around the base, and bring potted plants indoors.
It prefers fertile, slightly acidic, sunny, well-drained soil.
In poor light it may become leggy and weak, and flowering is also poor.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
Letting it run dry causes flowers and leaves to drop.
Except in midsummer, apply slow-release fertilizer once a month, or liquid fertilizer once every week to 10 days.
Cut off flower spikes that have finished blooming.
Cutting back short after flowering to improve ventilation lets it grow again and flower again in autumn.
There are no particular pests or diseases, but aphids, spider mites and armyworms may infest it.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)