Salvia 'Hot Lips' – The Bicoloured Beauty Sage
A stunning, compact sage variety that captivates with its distinctive bicoloured flowers in eye-catching combinations of red and white. This remarkable plant delivers non-stop colour from spring through to the first frosts, making it an indispensable choice for gardeners seeking long-lasting impact. With its aromatic foliage, drought tolerance, and pollinator appeal, 'Hot Lips' brings both beauty and practicality to any garden setting.
Headlines:
- Plant Type: Hardy semi-evergreen perennial sub-shrub (Salvia × jamensis hybrid)
- Height: 1m
- Spread: 75cm
- Flowering Period: June to September
- Flower Colour: Bicoloured red and white (can vary with temperature)
- Hardiness: Hardy in the UK down to temperatures of -15 to -10 degrees Celcius (RHS hardiness rating H5)
- Growth Habit: Upright, naturally bushy with dense branching
- Foliage: Small, aromatic, semi-evergreen leaves with blackcurrant fragrance
- Fragrance: Distinctive blackcurrant-scented foliage
- Position: Full sun, sheltered location
- Soil Requirements: Well-drained, moderately fertile soil
Overview
Salvia 'Hot Lips' is a captivating garden performer that combines striking visual appeal with exceptional reliability. This hybrid bears large, open-mouthed, bicoloured white and red blooms throughout summer, on compact, scented, bushy plants. What makes this variety particularly fascinating is its ability to change flower colours based on temperature and season - in very hot weather some blooms may be fully red or white, and white blooms tend to be more common as day length decreases in late summer. This natural variation ensures your garden display remains interesting and dynamic throughout the growing season.
Key Characteristics
The standout feature of 'Hot Lips' is undoubtedly its remarkable floral display. Each flower resembles a dancer's costume with its distinctive open-mouthed shape, typically featuring pristine white petals adorned with vibrant red lips or markings. The aromatic foliage has a fine blackcurrant fragrance, adding a sensory dimension that enhances the garden experience. The plant's naturally dense, bushy habit creates an attractive mounded form that provides excellent structure in borders and containers alike.
Growth Habit and Size
'Hot Lips' forms a bushy plant, about 100 x 100cm, evergreen if not cut back by frost, with small, ovate, aromatic green leaves. This generous size makes it an excellent choice for creating substantial impact in medium to large gardens, whilst its compact nature ensures it won't overwhelm smaller spaces. The plant develops into a well-rounded shrub with age, creating an increasingly impressive display year after year.
Flowering Performance
The flowering performance of 'Hot Lips' is truly exceptional. The blooms appear continuously through the hottest of summers until the first frost in fall, providing months of uninterrupted colour. Flowers are borne in loose terminal racemes, red in midsummer, bicolored red and white in July and August, sometimes completely white when the days shorten. This seasonal colour variation means your garden will enjoy a constantly evolving display, with new surprises appearing as conditions change.
Growing Conditions
Salvia 'Hot Lips' thrives in sunny, warm locations with excellent drainage. It performs best in full sun where it can develop its most vibrant colours and maintain compact growth. The plant is remarkably drought tolerant once established and actually prefers lean, well-drained soils over rich, moisture-retentive conditions. It adapts well to chalky, sandy, or loamy soils but struggles in waterlogged conditions. In heavier soils, improve drainage by planting on a slight mound or incorporating grit into the planting area.
Care and Maintenance
This low-maintenance sage requires minimal intervention to perform at its best. Regular deadheading throughout the growing season encourages continuous flowering and maintains a tidy appearance. In spring, prune back by approximately one-third to promote fresh growth and maintain the plant's compact shape. Apply a balanced fertiliser in early spring to support vigorous growth, but avoid over-feeding which can reduce flowering. Water regularly during establishment and dry spells, though mature plants are remarkably drought tolerant.
Garden Uses
The extended flowering period and striking appearance of 'Hot Lips' make it incredibly versatile in garden design. It excels in herbaceous borders, mixed plantings, Mediterranean-style gardens, and wildlife-friendly schemes. The plant is equally at home in formal settings where its neat habit provides structure, or in cottage garden schemes where its abundant blooms add cheerful informality. Its substantial size makes it an excellent choice for creating focal points or filling larger spaces with sustained colour.
Container Growing
'Hot Lips' adapts well to container cultivation, making it perfect for patios, terraces, and balconies. Use large pots with excellent drainage and fill with free-draining, peat-free compost mixed with additional grit for improved drainage. Container plants require more regular watering and feeding than those in the ground. Protect from severe winter weather by moving containers to sheltered locations or wrapping them with insulating materials.
Seasonal Interest
This remarkable sage provides genuine year-round value. Fresh growth emerges in spring with aromatic new foliage, followed by the first flush of flowers in late spring or early summer. The plant then continues its spectacular display through the hottest months, with flower colours shifting according to temperature and daylight hours. Even when not in peak flower, the aromatic, semi-evergreen foliage maintains garden interest and provides valuable structure in winter borders.
Wildlife Value
'Hot Lips' is outstanding for supporting garden wildlife. The tubular flowers provide an excellent nectar source for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects throughout the extended flowering season. Its long blooming period makes it particularly valuable for late-season pollinators when many other flowers have finished. The aromatic foliage also provides habitat and shelter for beneficial garden creatures.
Companion Planting
The distinctive bicoloured flowers of 'Hot Lips' work beautifully with a wide range of companion plants. For elegant combinations, pair it with silver-foliaged plants such as Artemisia, Stachys byzantina, or lavender varieties. The red and white flowers complement purple-flowered companions like Nepeta or Perovskia beautifully. For vibrant contrast, combine with orange or yellow flowering perennials such as Rudbeckia, Helenium, or ornamental grasses that echo its natural, relaxed habit.
Why Choose Salvia 'Hot Lips'?
Salvia 'Hot Lips' offers exceptional garden value through its unique colour-changing flowers, extended flowering season, and minimal maintenance requirements. Its drought tolerance and pollinator appeal make it an environmentally conscious choice, whilst its aromatic foliage adds sensory interest beyond the visual display. Whether used as a specimen plant, massed for dramatic effect, or incorporated into mixed plantings, 'Hot Lips' delivers reliable performance and enduring beauty that will enhance any garden for years to come.
Buying Perennials from Jacksons Nurseries
At Jacksons Nurseries we lightly trim back our perennials after flowering and trim them back at the end of the season to ensure that the plants remain neat and tidy whilst in the pot. The more tender the plant the less we cut back to help protect exposed stems from winter frost. Depending on the plant variety we will then prune back further in spring once the risk of the more severe frosts is over.
As a result, depending on the time of year you buy perennials, they may not look like images showing their ‘prime time’ in flower and looking at their best.
From late autumn onwards and dependent on variety, there may be very little visible above the soil except for a few cut back dormant leaves or stems. It is perfectly normal for dormant plants to look like this from autumn onwards, they will however burst back into life in spring.
Availability: Stock availability figures are provided as a guide only. There is a delay between orders being placed and the plants being gathered by our pulling team. During this time it may be possible for a member of the public to purchase these plants from our Garden Centre, while this is rare it is a possibility and we will notify you of any problems as soon as possible. This figure may also include plants that have not yet be flagged as unsaleable.
Pre-order: Pre-order times are given as a guide only and may vary dependent on the growing season. Orders containing Pre-ordered products will be shipped as a single order when all items become available. Large orders may be part shipped, please contact us on 01782 502741 or email sales@jacksonsnurseries.co.uk.
Perennials are described and classified differently by different gardeners but all would agree that they are plants that come into flower every year from early spring to late summer, the exact time dependent on variety and most die back to ground level in autumn and winter.
As for all plants, soil preparation is time well spent. Dig over the area to be planted ensuring that the ground is free draining. If not then you may wish to either consider planting in a different spot or raising the level of the planting area by adding additional topsoil, well rotted garden compost and/or well rotted manure. Add ‘Fish, Blood and Bone’ fertiliser or a high potash fertiliser to encourage good root growth and development.
It’s always a good idea to plant a few of the same plant together, we recommend planting in 3’s or 5’s to provide a bold effect but allowing them plenty of room to develop.
Always check eventual plant heights when planning borders to ensure that the taller plants are at the back (or at the centre of an island bed) followed by the medium and then smaller low growing plants.
Remember to deadhead perennials after flowering, trim back lightly in autumn as required to tidy the border and if necessary trim again in spring once the risk of heavy frost has passed.
If perennials get too big, start to flower less and less or if it seems to be dying off from the centre, consider dividing the plant but always check that the particular variety is happy to be divided and that you divide at the right time of year for the plant.
By using this simple guide and a little time, perennials can make an absolutely spectacular difference to your garden.