Actually I have Mesa Purple and Mesa Scarlet. The RTH love the purple, red is still not blooming that great. We lack sun for the past 5 days...

http://syngentaflowersinc.com/default.aspx?tabid=7&pid=35-1207

Here is a link that might be useful:

Is this a nice deep purple on an erect plant? That would make it relatively unique.

I like that purple too, Rich. Also, seafire's link said that it likes heat AND is drought tolerant.... my kind of Salvia.

Thanks for the picture!
I need to see if anyone is carrying Azure,Scarlet and Purple.
If anyone can find some of these Please let me know I will
be calling around to see if anyone here has some other colors.
Art

Yes Rich, the bloom is a deep purple and the RTH's love it. Ward has already put dibbs on some cuttings!

Pam

I don't know where you are, Art, but I just picked up a couple of the Mesa Purple at Smithfield Gardens in north Suffolk, VA. One of the tags describe it as a tender perennial that can tolerate a light frost. This might spell doom for mine this winter, unless a heavy mulching will carry them through...
Marsha

Marshah:
Being here in Austin I need to call around we have lots
of people that sell Salvia greggii & Microphylla cultivars.
Armand Hufault has a Velvet series, Tom Peace and Scott
Ogden alway's have something new. My lowes has a few
local greggii's hybrids like Pat Mcneal's Pastel Purple.They also sell lipstick ,flame S.guarnitiva 'Black & Blue last Year they carried some of the Navajo Series.
Art

what's "rth"?
~ freshair

Freshair:
rth is Ruby throat hummingbird
Art

art ~

rth: jeez, duh
mesa series: found them at robinsnestflower.com, but i don't know anything about them

~ freshair

Marshah, I am zone 6B/7A and a lot of Salvia greggii and microphylla are hardy for me - most types in fact. As long as the bed stays fairly dry in winter you should have no problem growing them. I don't have any experience with the Mesa Hybrids but suspect their survival is highly likely, and if not there are lots of others to try.

Art: Well, I don't suppose a nursery in SE Virginia will be very helpful to you in Texas, will it? You probably have many more resources available than I.

wardda: Thanks for the encouragement. I do have several that do well for me -- 'Maraschino', 'Hot Lips', 'Wild Watermelon' and 'Black and Blue' (the first three purchased from Rich Dufresne at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens spring sales in years past). I really love 'Diane', but the first one I bought didn't survive its first winter and the second lived only two seasons before biting the dust. 'Sierra San Antonio' was another failure for me. I'll keep trying. Really hoping the Mesa Purple does well, as it's a lovely deep shade.

Marsha

RTH's are eating the Purple Mesa up! He prefers the purple to the Scarlet Red.

Ok I join this conversation a bit late,, ha ha. I just found the "mesa series scarlet and purple" at a local nursery that I usually will find s. greggii plants and these scarlet blooms knocked my socks off appear a true cherry color. The purple is on the light side. This appears to have the greggii leaves of cherry chief. I mention this because one site lists this as coccinea scarlet and purple which Im sure its not. The pics.

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Last year I received some seeds that were only labeled salvia greggii pink and purple, IM assuming now that these were from that series. The purple didnt do well but the pink did excellent.

I had similar experience with the stampede series the purple/
lavender form did not perform well. In this case the pinks
were the winners at least out in my sunny (and hot) garden.
Navajo series both the pink and red were winners.
Art