[Identified as Coral Nymph.]

This Salvia was given to me as 'Summer Jewel Pink' but I'd like to make sure so I can add photos to the database.
Grew in pots for 2 years; now that it's planted in my garden it's growing about 4 feet tall.



Bonus question:
Before I get my hopes up, does anyone know if the seeds will be viable?

Hi, Green!

More likely to be the older pink S. coccinea form, marketed as Salvia coccinea "Coral Nymph". Coral Nymph is the same as typical S. coccinea in size and conformation. Tends to be tall and lanky, topping out around 3-4' depending on soil, etc. Can get taller in shady locations.

The "Summer Jewel" series tend to be shrubbier, 12-18" in height in my experience, and definitely more heavily branched at a younger age.

The pink of "Summer Jewel" is somewhat different than "Coral Nymph", so whatever "Coral Nymph" was crossed with to produce "Summer Jewel" has affected the color. Both breed true to color.

Incidentally, the "Coral Nymph" form is not a cultivar as we are used to thinking of the term. It breeds in and out of typical red and white forms readily in a simple Mendelian manner. It is semi-recessive, in that the intermediary forms are various shades of pinky-red and pale pink.

Thanks for that information.
When this was growing in a pot it was pretty short; maybe less than 12" tall. Now that it's in ground it it growing tall and strong.

@rattlebox,
Thanks for helping with the identification!
I can't locate the list of plants/seeds I sent to you when we did our trade but I may have sent you one of these pink Salvia plants; if so, it might have been labeled as Pink Salvia or as Summer Jewel Pink at the time as that's what I was told when it was given to me.

Looks like the seeds are viable; found several of these nearby.

@Greene, yes you sent me several cuttings, some of which were these.

I had had a large patch of the "normal" sized pink coccinea in the back yard and was still in the process of trying to eliminate the seedlings as they popped up in order to prevent them crossing with the Summer Jewel Pink and Red, both of which I now owned. So as your cuttings came into bloom and showed themselves to be a pink S. coccinea I pulled them.

I have one left coming into bud that looks to be your pink coccinea. I'll let it bloom, then do a photo-comparison with Summer Jewel Pink. I'm curious now myself to see the side-by-side comparison again, and this time document it.

I look forward to the side by side comparison. It will be helpful.