As long as the seeds are ripe (dark brown to black) and clean (no mold - white spots), it will germinate readily at 70+ degrees. As long as there are no other forms of Salvia coccinea around, it should come true to the parent.

I harvest some of the seeds, but leave the rest. Lady in Red will reseed herself readily and come back for year after year after year in waves of red.
~ Annie

I potted quit a few last year and want to take the old dead plants out---this will certainly disrupt all the potting soil. will they still grow from the seeds that are still in the soil??---ED

Ed I have the same situation. I put some of my plants from last year in containers as so many seeds sprouted that I didn't have room for all of them in the ground so several seedlings went into pots. The dead plants are still in there along with quite a few seeds that I didn't collect. I am leaving the pots as is for a while longer to see if any of the fallen seed germinates. I also have about 20 seedlings already started inside and even more of coral nymph (if they come true). I may have some very interesting hybrids this year since i grew, scarlet sage, Lady in Red and coral nymph all within hummer range and they used them all continuously.

Penny

I don't see why not.
My chickens scratch around in mine. I chase them out and think, "Oh, man! They have ruined my salvias for sure this time", but the seeds grow and the plants fill up the bed again, just as they do every year. There is so much seed to each salvia plant that I would think that even if you accidently buried half of it, you should still have enough to plant a whole acre! :)
btw - I put a simple little edging of native rock along where my Lady in Red salvias grow near my fish pond and no more chicken scratching - So, we shall see if the salvia does better with or without the help of chickens. (hehehe)

~Annie