No experience with it here. According to hardyplants.com
"Will flower the first year with a spring or winter sowing"

Karen

Oh, Oh, OHHHHH! That is so pretty! What a fabulous color! I was so excited when I saw the picture, but then I saw the word "Texas", then I saw the Zones. So unfair! Lois, Do you think it could be a tender perennial we grow as an annual up North?

Lime

Well, High Country Gardens says it might be hardy to zone 5, but I have not overwintered it myself, so I don't know. I bought some Stachys coccinea from High Country Gardens a couple years ago, put them in a pot, and they did quite well, blooming all summer. I did read that Stachys coccinea blooms the first year from seed, but I can't find out how long it takes to bloom after germination. For example, if I WS and it germinated in March, would I start seeing flowers in July? In Sept? If the answer is that I would not see flowers until Sept, then I would try and sow at least some seeds indoors so the plants would get more of a head start on flowering. I am really intrigued by the hummingbird flowers offered by High Country Gardens; however, a lot of their plants are only marginally hardy in my zone and I don't always want to pay big plant prices for something that will be just an annual for me.

That's why I am interested in WS Stachys coccinea; I would like to have lots of it, and even if it did not flower the first year until Sept, maybe some of the seedlings would be hardier than stated and survive to start blooming earlier the next year.

Lois in PA

Here is a link that might be useful: High Country Gardens - Stachys coccinea