This has been a wonderful little plant for me. It survived another snowy, cold winter. There was very little to cut off to clean up the plant. It is very drought tolerant, but thrives with a bit of water. Right after I cleaned it up and watered it, it put out a huge flush of green leaves and just a few days later it burst into bloom. It's such a bright, beautiful little plant full of flowers. The best thing is that my resident deer and rabbits are leaving it alone! Now I want more salvias in different colors.

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In my zone 8a, salvia greggii overwinters well in the ground. It blooms from early spring to late fall, if it is kept deadheaded. It is also evergreen in my zone and tolerates our heat and humidity really well. The hummers love the red flowers, and I would not be without this plant. I love its relaxed look in the garden. It's a keeper.

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I'm very pleased with my Salvia greggii! It has grown well and blooms nearly full time from spring through fall. The deer and rabbits are avoiding it, which is wonderful. I live in an area where most plants get eaten by the critters. It does seem to need a bit more water than some of my other plants, but I don't mind because the flowers are so bright and beautiful.

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"Salvia greggii (Autumn sage) is a herbaceous perennial native to a long, narrow area from southwest Texas, through the Chihuahuan Desert and into the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, typically growing in rocky soils at elevations from 5,000 to 9,000 feet. It was named and described in 1870 by botanist Asa Gray after Josiah Gregg (1806 – 1850), a merchant, explorer, naturalist, and author of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico who found and collected the plant in Texas. It is closely related to and frequently hybridizes with Salvia microphylla. Contrary to its common name, it blooms throughout the summer and autumn.

Salvia greggii is a highly variable plant, with numerous named cultivars, reaching anywhere from 1 to 4 feet in height and less in width. It can be either upright or mounding. The leaves are typically mid-green and glabrous, tending to be less than 1 inch long, and with a spicy fragrance. Flower size and color are extremely variable. Flowers reach from .25 to 1 inch in length, and include many shades of scarlet and red (most common in the wild), along with rose, white, pink, lavender, apricot, and violet. The plant is used widely in horticulture.

Popular named cultivars include 'Furman's Red', a cultivar from Texas that blooms profusely in autumn with dark red flowers. 'Big Pink' has a large lower lip with a deep pink color and lavender tint. 'Purple Pastel' is a small variety that repeat blooms in autumn. 'Cherry Chief 'blooms reliably in the humid southern United States. 'Desert Pastel' has pale apricot flowers with yellow streaks, and prefers mild climates.

Other cultivars include: 'Alba', a white flowered variety; 'Peach', with vivid red flowers; 'Strawberries and Cream', yellow and pink.

Natural hybrids between S. greggii and S. microphylla were discovered in Mexico in 1991 by an English plant expedition. The variously colored hybrids are collectively named Salvia × jamensis after the nearest village, Jame. The collectors gathered seed from nearly 30 different colors of flowers. It was later discovered that plants collected in 1991 by collectors from Yucca Do Nursery in Texas were also forms of Salvia × jamensis. The various forms most resemble S. greggii in height, though they show a range of variety in other traits."

Taken from wikipedia's page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

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