"Hot Lips" Salvia microphylla changes colors too, it is a temperature effect I think.

Joseph

Is the color in the photo accurate, if so, that is amazing. My Lady in Red sometimes changes to pink then back again, but not that color pink - wow.

That's why I took that picture it was that dramatic. It must be the temperature change like hot lips which changes colors too. I noticed that it happened with Salvia blepharophylla ,eyelash sage earlier this summer but I never took a picture because it looked so washed out like someone threw bleach on it. Sarah

Sarah,

Is S. blepharophylla winter hardy for you?

Joseph

No. Is it for you ? I usually buy a bunch of salvias each spring at the herb sale in chester springs, Pennsylvania. Sarah

I have a S. greggii seedling that in the fall has red blooms that turn to a bright pink over the next few days. This time of year the blooms are pink from the start. The color range is similar to what the pictures show for your coccinea.

BTW, S. blepharophylla has wintered over for me here in NC (zone 7) the past three years, which was a surprise. It's slowly making a nice patch in a well drained spot under dappled shade, where S. sinoalensis also returns every spring.

I've noticed the same thing on Greggi Navajo Red, as the flowers age they turn a kind of dark pink.

but does anyone have greggii navajo red that also has white in it? it isn't hot lips as i grow that one, too.

Some notes on Salvia flowers changing color:

If flowers remain in the calyx after their usefulness in pollination is over, they will often sun bleach, or the colors will wash out with a rain or after watering. It is often the case that the flowers will have what looks like a water stain. Perhaps the droplets act like lenses, concentrating the sun on particular areas.

If you look at Salvia flowers with a good hand lens, the color pigment is found often in the fine hairs on the lobes.

S. microphylla Zaragoza is a form that regularly partially bleaches out during its maturation, before losing its pollen or being pollinated.

In S. microphylla Hot Lips, the flower color is stable once the immature flower starts growing. The zones vary from flower to flower, but are stable for each flower during its lifetime.

This could be due to change in petal pH.

The red colour is usually due to a low pH.

As pH goes to 3-4 the colour usually changes to pink