When I spotted two hummingbirds fighting over my ‘Coral Nymph’ salvia the other day, I decided it was time to give this plant another shout-out. Here’s what I wrote about ‘Coral Nymph’ in 2013:
Some annuals are so easy to grow that you almost forget about them. Salvia ‘Coral Nymph’ has never given me any trouble. The seeds usually have a nearly-perfect germination rate, the seedlings never suffer from damping-off disease, and once the plants are in the garden all they ask of me is that I deadhead their spent flowers from time to time so they can keep on blooming until frost.
‘Coral Nymph’ grows 24 inches tall with little coral-pink trumpets that are especially attractive to hummingbirds. The plants have no pest or disease enemies, and they can handle heat or even wet conditions. I’ve had plants that flowered all summer in part-shade and others that thrived in full sun. ‘Coral Nymph’ really is an incredibly-easy-to-grow annual.
The delicate pink flowers look lovely in a cottage garden or mixed border. I like to grow them next to purple salvias or ageratums, but its also fun to plant them next to dark-pink roses or zinnias.
And I make sure to plant ‘Coral Nymph’ next to my screen porch each summer so I have a front-row seat for all the hummingbird action.