Salvia 'Hot Lips'
Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips' · Lamiaceae
A twiggy bush with small, scented leaves and flowers that are half white and half red, turning all red or all white in hot weather.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 7 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late May to mid October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around salvia 'Hot Lips'
The planner designed this bed around salvia 'Hot Lips' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 7, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 721 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why salvia 'Hot Lips' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Salvia 'Hot Lips' × 1, red
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 8, pink
- 3 Rock cress × 8, white
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 3, purple
- 5 Sideoats grama × 3, purple
- 6 White sage 'Valerie Finnis' × 3, silver leaves
- 7 Schubert's allium × 4, pink
- 8 Star of Persia × 5, purple
Why this plant
- The only spires. The others are dense clusters, daisies, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only red. The one hot colour: every other flower here is cool or neutral.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to sideoats grama (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 21 weeks. From late May to mid October.
- Fills a gap. For 7 of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 26 of the 26 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Salvia 'Hot Lips' and Tatarian aster 'Jindai' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. In winter there are still Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' and sideoats grama to look at.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where salvia 'Hot Lips' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
In flower from May to November in a mild garden, and visited all day by hummingbirds. Cut it back by half in spring. It needs sharp drainage to survive a cold winter.
- Months of flower in a warm garden
- Hummingbirds
- Containers
What to plant with salvia 'Hot Lips'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Mexican feather grass: in flower together for eight weeks, from early June; low enough (20 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same dry soil.
- English lavender 'Hidcote': in flower together for six weeks, from late June; a low mound at the foot of its spires; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Rosemary: flowers first, early March to early May, so the spot is never empty; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about salvia 'Hot Lips'
Does salvia 'Hot Lips' need sun or shade?
Salvia 'Hot Lips' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does salvia 'Hot Lips' grow in?
USDA zones 7 to 10. It is hardy to zone 7, which means it survives winter nights down to about 10 °F (−12 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does salvia 'Hot Lips' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to mid October. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 7 | Mid May to mid October |
|---|---|
| Zone 8 | Early May to mid October |
| Zone 9 | Early May to mid October |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should salvia 'Hot Lips' be planted?
2½ ft (75 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many salvia 'Hot Lips' plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 5 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 6 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is salvia 'Hot Lips' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like salvia 'Hot Lips'?
Salvia 'Hot Lips' comes from Arizona to Guatemala. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Autumn sage: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 6 in shorter, 6 in narrower.
- Aromatic aster 'Raydon's Favorite': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers mid September to early November, blue, not red.
- Yarrow: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 12 in shorter, 12 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat salvia 'Hot Lips'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after salvia 'Hot Lips'?
Salvia 'Hot Lips' is over by mid October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Bodnant viburnum 'Dawn': from early November to late December, 10 ft tall.
- Common witch hazel: from mid October to late November, 15 ft tall.
What does salvia 'Hot Lips' look like in winter?
Salvia 'Hot Lips' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
Is salvia 'Hot Lips' good for bees and butterflies?
Salvia 'Hot Lips' is visited by butterflies and hummingbirds.
More Salvia
- Anise sage 'Black and Blue' Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'
- Autumn sage Salvia greggii
- Blue sage Salvia azurea
- Bog sage Salvia uliginosa
- Clary sage Salvia sclarea
- Culinary sage Salvia officinalis
- Meadow sage Salvia nemorosa
- Meadow sage 'Caradonna' Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'
- Mexican bush sage Salvia leucantha
- Rosemary Salvia rosmarinus
- Russian sage Salvia yangii (formerly Perovskia)
- Russian sage 'Little Spire' Salvia yangii 'Little Spire'
- Salvia 'May Night' Salvia nemorosa 'Mainacht'
- Silver sage Salvia argentea
- Whorled sage 'Purple Rain' Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain'
- Wood sage 'Blue Hill' Salvia x sylvestris 'Blauhügel'
- Wood sage 'East Friesland' Salvia nemorosa 'Ostfriesland'
In these guides
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
Zone guides: Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
In flower in: May · June · July · August · September · October
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (75 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late May to mid October; upright spires; red, white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 7 to 10
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Comes from
- Arizona to Guatemala
- Attracts
- Butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, heat, humidity, salt
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.