'Hot Lips' Ornamental Sage Plants

Salvia x jamensis 'Hot Lips'

Hot Lips is a bushy, lively Salvia variety with jolly two-tone blooms that are mostly half white, half bright lipstick red, varying between more red in July and more white at the end of their wonderfully long flowering season: generally from July to October, often until the first frost in a sheltered, cosy spot.
To under 1 metre tall.

Browse our range of Salvia varieties, or all our perennial plants.

Features

• Flowers: Variable bicolour, bright red & white
• In Bloom: July to October / first frost
• Foliage: Mid green leaves.
• Height x Spread: 90 x 90cm.
• Position: Full sun. Sheltered sites are best in the North
• Soil: Any well drained
• Grows on the coast. Ideal for pots
• RHS Plants for Pollinators
• RHS Award of Garden Merit

Growing 'Hot Lips' Salvia

Salvias need close to full sun. They are fully hardy and grow in exposed coastal locations, although their flowering season shortens with increasing cold and wind.

They are happy on chalk, loving a light, well-drained soil enriched with organic matter that doesn't remain wet in winter. Heavy clay is not good, unless it is on a slope or raised location that sheds water in winter.
Established plants are drought resistant, but flower best with a little consistent moisture in dry summer periods.

In your Garden Design

They are perfect for a Mediterranean or gravel garden, and are a favourite choice for containers (especially matching red ones) where the flowers make a startling statement all on their own or mixed with similar Salvias like Caradonna.

As the centrepiece, or thriller, in a classic three element design for a large pot, Hot Lips can billow up behind a dainty little white patio rose, with tendrils of a nearby clematis bubbling around the base of the rose and over the sides of the pot.