This is an excellent plant from Mexico, which flowers basically all year round. It is dainty, and
grows to about 60cm with shiny leaves and slender flower stems with velvety cerise
little flowers giving a haze of colour. It needs a spot where it won't be overgrown
by bigger plants. It does tolerate a bit of shade but is most floriferous in a sunny
spot. It looks pretty with silver or cerise leaves nearby; pink or blue flowers are
also attractive with it - it is very pretty in a cottage-style garden. Annual
browallia (Browallia americana) is an excellent companion, being of the
same height, as is shrubby Plectranthus saccatus, with milky blue-mauve flowers
in summer and autumn. This salvia can be grown in a pot. As it flowers year round,
it can be kept in good shape by the occasional removal of a couple of stems, or else
can be cut back hard in late winter when most other salvias are pruned. It also
benefits from deadheading of spent spires. It does get attacked by a nasty little
black flea beetle which disfigures the foliage: try squashing the little bugs each day or give the plant a good pruning to encourage fresh new growth. It is frost-sensitive.
Postscript: I no longer grow this species as it was regularly ruined by flea beetles in my garden!