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Salvia WINDWALKER® Desert Rose
Salvia WINDWALKER® Desert Rose
Salvia WINDWALKER® Desert Rose

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Salvia WINDWALKER® Desert Rose

(Windwalker® Desert Rose Sage) Hot pink flowers top glossy, mid-green foliage top Windwalker® Desert Rose Salvia. Due to drought resistance, Salvia x 'Desert Rose' is a great choice for dry gardens. However, this petite beauty also grows well with moderate watering.

Common name This is the non-scientific name used for a plant. A plant may have several common names, depending on the gardener's location. To further confuse the matter, a common name may be shared by several completely different plants. At Flowers by the Sea, we rely on the scientific name to identify our plants and avoid confusion. Windwalker Desert Rose Salvia
USDA Zones The U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones indicate the temperature zones where a plant is likely to thrive. It is determined by the average annual winter minimum temperature. Actual winter temperatures may be higher or lower than the average. 5 - 9
Size (h/w/fh) The anticipated mature size of the plant: Height, Width & Flower Height. 24"/24"/24"
Exposure This is the average amount of sunlight that a plant needs to thrive. Generally, full sun exposure is 6 or more hours of direct sun daily while partial shade is less than 4 hours of sun or dappled shade all day. Plants may tolerate more sunlight in cooler climates and need afternoon shade in extremely hot climates. Full sun to partial shade
Soil type This is the kind of soil that a plant needs to thrive. Most plants require a well-drained soil that allows the water to soak into the soil without becoming soggy. Sandy and clay soils can be improved by digging in compost to improve drainage. Well drained
Water needs Plants have specific water requirements. Water loving means the plant needs regular watering to keep the soil moist. Average generally indicates applying 1 inch of water per week, or watering when the soil is dry to a depth of 3 to 4 inches. One inch of water is equal to 5 gallons per square yard of soil surface. Drought resistant
Mature height The mature height of this plant in average conditions. 1 to 2 feet
Mature spread The mature width of this plant in average conditions. 1 to 2 feet
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  • Salvia WINDWALKER® Desert Rose
Degree of Difficulty
Easy
Degree of Difficulty
This plant is easy to grow in a variety of conditions.
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This plant is sensitive to overwatering and wet soils.
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(Windwalker® Desert Rose Sage) Hot pink flowers top glossy, mid-green foliage top Windwalker® Desert Rose Salvia. Due to drought resistance, Salvia x 'Desert Rose' is a great choice for dry gardens. However, this petite beauty also grows well with moderate watering.

The short height and compact, rounded form of Desert Rose make it ideal for colorful garden borders. Regularly removing spent flower spikes allows it to bloom for months. This tough perennial grows well in full sun or partial shade and is similarly adaptable to a variety of soils.

Colorado horticulturist Kelly Grummons crossed Salvia lemmonii (Lemmon's Sage) with Salvia 'Raspberry Delight' (Raspberry Delight Sage) to create Desert Rose. It can be difficult to track the parentage of plants in the Salvia genus - also called "true sages" and including more than 1,000 species - because many easily self-hybridize. However, Raspberry Delight is reportedly a hybrid of Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red' and various high altitude Mountain Sages from Arizona. This may account for Desert Rose's foliage, which is similar to that of Salvia greggii (Autumn Sage).

Both  Autumn Sage and Mountain Sage are native to the U.S. and Mexico. Some botanists consider Salvia lemmonii (Lemmon's Sage) to be a variant of Mountain Sage. Plant explorers John Gill Lemmon (1832-1908) and Sara Allen Lemmon (1836-1923) discovered it while on their honeymoon in Southeastern Arizona around 1881. More information about their discovery is available in our blog post Getting Started: Salvias for the Southwest.

Don't confuse this Windwalker® selection with Windwalker® Royal Red Salvia, for which Grummons crossed Salvia darcyi and Salvia microphylla. Both are introductions from Colorado's PlantSelect® program that focuses on xeric gardening. Plant Select's botanical name for the unpatented Windwalker® Desert Rose Salvia is Salvia lemmonii 'PWIN04S'. The botanical name we use for this plant reflects its complex hybrid nature.