Salvia splendens Heat Hero™ Blue - Scarlet Sage

Salvia HEAT HERO™ Blue is a Salvia splendens selected for its bicolour blue and white flowering, uninterrupted even in intense heat. This compact and well-branched variety forms small, regular bushes adorned with very bright spikes. It is not hardy, grown as a bedding annual in our climates. It is also an excellent sage for decorating terraces and balconies.

HEAT HERO™ Blue belongs to the species Salvia splendens, the scarlet sage or blazing sage, a tender perennial from the Lamiaceae family. It is also known as splendid sage or St. John's Fire. The botanical species originates from southeastern Brazil, around Rio de Janeiro, where it grows at medium altitudes in a warm, humid, and frost-free climate; there it forms robust, small undershrubs in open woodland edges. Elsewhere, it is almost always cultivated as an annual, as its stems and foliage are destroyed at -1°C.
The HEAT HERO™ series was selected in South Africa by De Wet Plant Breeders for its ability to withstand scorching sun and drought periods while remaining very floriferous; the Blue form is the blue and white version. The plant quickly develops a compact, rounded, well-branched clump from the base: in one season, it commonly reaches 40 to 50 cm in height and 30 to 40 cm in spread, both in the ground and in pots. Its quadrangular stems bear opposite, medium to dark green, finely serrated leaves. The foliage persists through winter in frost-free climates. To keep the plant from one year to the next, it must be overwintered frost-free, in a conservatory or heated greenhouse.
Flowering begins in May-June and continues until the first frosts. The inflorescences are terminal, upright, dense spikes covered with small tubular, two-lipped flowers. In HEAT HERO™ Blue, the corollas blend a medium blue tone with white or cream areas that brighten the spike; the nectar-rich flowers are visited by pollinating insects. A staple of public flowerbeds since the 19th century, blazing sage is now rejuvenated by varieties like HEAT HERO™ Blue, which are more resistant to intense summer heat.

In the garden, place Salvia splendens HEAT HERO™ Blue at the front of sunny beds, along path edges, or in tight small groups. In pots or planters, it pairs well with other summer annuals: hybrid sage ‘Mystic Spires Blue’ for its taller spikes, Calibrachoa Cabaret® Special Bumble Bee Rose, which unfurls a cloud of bright pink flowers, or a Felicia ‘Forever Blue’ adorned with small topaz-blue daisies. In a more naturalistic garden, it can also be planted at the foot of a Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’, with its silvery foliage and fine lavender-blue spikes.