Early, easy and compact are the key features that will attract growers to the all-new Salvia coccinea 'Summer Jewel Red'. In the trials, Fleuroselect judges applauded the earliness of this fast-to-grow new variety, earlier and more compact than any dwarf Salvia on the market. In the garden this free-flowering red gem will shine all season long.
Summer Jewel™ Red is also the recipient of the All-America Selections award for performance in North American trials.
USE
Salvia coccinea 'Summer Jewel Red' is ideally suited to pack or 12 - 15 cm pot production for professional growers. In the garden plant in a sunny or part-shady spot. Suitable for landscape plantings.
MARKET VALUE
The short cultivation time (9 weeks from sowing to flowering), and compact plant habit makes Salvia 'Summer Jewel Red' easy for growers to schedule and ship. Retailers can fill benches with well-filled packs or pots showing bright, attractive Jewel-red blooms earlier in the season. Landscapers will be enthusiastic about uniform, dwarf plants with a height of 45 cm and a spread of 30 cm, providing a tightly flowering display of rich red colour, and consumers will be drawn to these little jewels in the garden centre and continue to enjoy them in garden beds or patio containers all through the season. In addition, 'Summer Jewel Red' can also be cultivated as a pot plant in 12 to 15 cm pots.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Salvia coccinea (Texas sage, scarlet sage, tropical sage, blood sage) is a herbaceous perennial in the Lamiaceae family that is widespread throughout the South Eastern United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern Southern America (Colombia, Peru, and Brazil). At one time Brazil was considered to be where it originated, but its diploid chromosome count now points to Mexico as its place of origin. Traditional varieties reach 60 to 120 cm in height, with many branches, and a spread of about 70 cm. The hairy leaves, scalloped on the edges, are pea green, varying in size, from small up to 7 cm long and 5 cm wide. Flower colour and size is quite variable. The naturalized variety is typically tubular and bright red, hence the 'coccinea epithet´, Latin for 'scarlet dyed'. Cultivated varieties include orange-red, pink, salmon, red, white, and scarlet, and include bi-colored varieties. Flowers attract butterflies. The first breakthrough in dwarf Salvia coccinea came with 'Lady in Red', a Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner in 1992. Now, breeding history has brought this species to another new level with the introduction of 'Summer Jewel Red', and its sister variety 'Summer Jewel Pink', a Fleuroselect Approved Novelty from the 2010 trials. Two precious new gems for gardeners and consumers looking for long lasting bright summer colours!