Today's Salvias of the Day is Hummingbird Sage (Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph').

This plant can be found in the ATP Plant Database at:
Hummingbird Sage (Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph') .

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Hummingbird Sage (Salvia coccinea 'Coral Nymph')

This is a favorite of mine. I initially wintersowed the seeds, probably about 8 years ago. I found that they self sow pretty well so I haven't had to bother sowing them for the past few years. I generally get a few volunteer plants each year. The volunteers sprout late, and the seedlings closely resemble a common weed that grows here, so I have to be careful not to hoe them out by accident. And since they sprout late, they also bloom late- not until late August or September. By that time most of my plants are dying off or going dormant. The hummingbirds love them, and they are in bloom after some other favorite nectar sources are finished for the year.

Karen

I have something similar that seeds itself generously in my garden each year, but I'm not sure it's Coral Nymph.

What do you think? I've never seen hummers or butterflies on it either, which makes me think it's maybe not. Or I just have a lot of other attractive things in the garden around it.

I looks like it...

Karen

@dyzzypyxxy

it looks like it, especially the flowers in the second pic.

kqcrna said:This is a favorite of mine. I initially wintersowed the seeds, probably about 8 years ago. I found that they self sow pretty well so I haven't had to bother sowing them for the past few years. I generally get a few volunteer plants each year. The volunteers sprout late, and the seedlings closely resemble a common weed that grows here, so I have to be careful not to hoe them out by accident. And since they sprout late, they also bloom late- not until late August or September. By that time most of my plants are dying off or going dormant. The hummingbirds love them, and they are in bloom after some other favorite nectar sources are finished for the year.

Karen

@kqcrna

You and I are in the Greater Cincinnati area and I'm wondering what common weed are you referring to? I'd like to know, so I don't accidentally pull any Salvia by mistake.

Thanks!

I'll be darned if I know the name. But all I can tell you is they look a heck of a lot like salvia coral nymph. Leaf shape and color are similar. I can't differentiate them until they're bigger. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Karen

Thanks Karen! I'll have to be more careful weeding.

Or, thry saving a few seeds to wintersow next winter.

Karen

These are adorable! I love the fresh, candy-like color in such a delicate-looking flower. But it's tough. Now that I've planted it and Snow Nymph, I don't expect to have to plant it ever again, if they're anything like my red Salvia coccinea, which often produces at least two new generations of blooms through the summer here.

the newly emerged seedling remind me very much of the Sweet Basil cotyledon.
Here are (slightly blurry) photos of some of the Salvia coccinea Coral Nymph seedlings from this morning:

@greene

Yay! New seedlings!

I have to agree with Elaine. Here in Florida, I've not seen either hummers or butterflies use this as a nectar plant. I do occasionally see bumble bees use it, but I don't believe it is the preferred nectar plant. I do have many other nectar plants all around my yard, so it may be at the bottom of the list for nectar seekers. It is the tallest growing S. coccinea plant I grow. I have had them get as tall as 4 1/2 feet. They bloom profusely, drop lots of seeds, and sprout everywhere. They are a weed in my yard, but because of the blooms I let most of them stay where they germinate. Those growing where I don't want, I easily just pull them up. So even as a weed here in central Florida, they are not really a nuisance.

The light pink/coral colored blooms add interest to my garden. It is one of the few light colored blooms I have so looks great against a backdrop of dark green foliage. I will always allow some S. coccinea to grow in my yard as I do like these plants.

Oh! There is one other plus about this plant as well as many other salvia nectar plants ....

Some species of birds love flower nectar. I took this video through a window and watched as Cardinals and Painted Buntings manipulating the blooms around in their beaks to lick the nectar from the back of each bloom. They will chomp the blooms up and then drop what's left. They love nectar and will also pull the blooms off both of my Cape Honeysuckle trees. (I grow CH in small tree form.) I couldn't figure out why there were so many blooms on the ground over a period of 2 days, until I saw the birds doing that. They will de-flower my CH trees in a matter of days. Which is good and bad. My over-wintering hummingbirds don't appreciate that!

If you watch this video, you can see the birds going after the different salvia blooms. At the end of this short video, you can see a Painted Bunting pulling Coral Nymph blooms off one of my plant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Lovely video, Becky. You should post your link over at The thread "Backyard Birds - September 2015" in Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum

Thanks! They've already seen it!

I just wanted folks to know that salvia blooms are used in more ways than most folks know about!

beckygardener said:Oh! There is one other plus about this plant as well as many other salvia nectar plants ....

Some species of birds love flower nectar. I took this video through a window and watched as Cardinals and Painted Buntings manipulating the blooms around in their beaks to lick the nectar from the back of each bloom. They will chomp the blooms up and then drop what's left. They love nectar and will also pull the blooms off both of my Cape Honeysuckle trees. (I grow CH in small tree form.) I couldn't figure out why there were so many blooms on the ground over a period of 2 days, until I saw the birds doing that. They will de-flower my CH trees in a matter of days. Which is good and bad. My over-wintering hummingbirds don't appreciate that!

If you watch this video, you can see the birds going after the different salvia blooms. At the end of this short video, you can see a Painted Bunting pulling Coral Nymph blooms off one of my plant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

@beckygardener

Wonderful video! I'll have to keep an eye on my salvias for songbirds doing the same thing. Love those painted buntings! Lucky you to have them in your yard! Thanks for sharing!

Yes, great video.

Karen

I did not plant mine...it just showed up. I assume it was a gift to me from the wildlife and a very nice gift that I love

The best kind of gift from a bird (most likely)!