Thankyou for posting this beautiful shrub sadly I dont know but I am sure someone here will.

Its stunning.

It looks like a Salvia, but I'm afraid I don't know which one.

Got to make a comment just to follow this..........

I've found pics of Salvia 'Hot Lips' that DON'T have the white area at the top of the petals (flowers are all red, not red and white) - perhaps that's what this is.

Compare this -
http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/207076-salvia-hot-lips

And I found a pic from Meanie -
http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/203771-salvia-hot-lips-3

:-)

The size and shape of the leaves on this one is all wrong for S.microphylla "Hot Lips" Beattie.
Nothing constructive to add though.......

That was a quick edit!

;-)

I don't have any other ideas if it's not a Salvia, Meanie. I don't have this plant - just admire other people's.

After a bit of googling, may I offer you -

Salvia greggii 'Desert Blaze'

complete with shrubby habit and variegated smooth oval leaves?

I think that you're on the right track with Salvia, and as there must be a non-variegated variety I'm looking too.

Whoops, another edit! ;-)

You're the kiddie Beattie!!!
I was just going through the Salvia group on Flickr - for anyone interested in different Salvia take a look here.........

http://www.flickr.com/groups/salvias/pool/

There are some beauties in there!

On Page 14 of the above link I found Salvia guarinitica which seems to be the same plant. I had no idea salvias were so wonderful. This is a beauty.

Scotsgran - it's a wonderful genus! Here are some of my favourite less common ones. The first is my plant, the rest were taken at Oxfords botanic gardens.

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/210517-blackcurrant-salvia/member/meanie

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/218786-salvia-confertifolia/member/meanie

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/180705-salvia-oxyphora/member/meanie

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/192146-salvia-corrugata/member/meanie

I agree with Beattie's ID of Salvia greggii 'Desert Blaze' - Dyson's sell it on line, hard to get hold of otherwise, its a group 1 salvia meaning (Dyson's listings) 'Hardy in Kent'. This is a beauty, I might order it myself in spring...

I agree, thanks for bringing it to our attention Rachel. I wonder if its' "rabbit resistant"? Thanks for finding a UK source Bamboo.

This one's going on my wish list! Thanks for asking the original question, Rachel. I have several Salvia greggii, but none with variegated leaves.

Thanks Beattie for the positive ID and Bamboo for a stockist. :-)

Dysons is a cracking source of Salvia. I've convinced Sue that we should take a short break in Kent next year for this very reason!

They don't appear to do mail order, do they?

You'll find it here Spritz..............

http://www.greatcompgarden.co.uk/mailorder.html

Sorry, Spritz, made the assumption they did mail order because they give a phone number to call.

Yeah, they do, and I found a stockist near Malmesbury via the RHS plantfinder. Invaluable! Looks like we'll all be going out and hoovering up the available stock come the spring.

I can't grow these here because most are tender or not hardy in our area. I'll enjoy everybody elses plants instead. Than you for the info Meanie. I do have a Teucrium which is similar to a mauve salvia. It is hardy.

Thanks, Meanie - pity they don't have an on-line catalogue.

Hi all,

thanks very much for your assistance!

I've had a look at some pictures of Salvia greggii 'Desert Blaze' aka Sage, Variegated Autumn Sage on Google and that does appear to be the one.

Its about half way down the page on this blog post http://colorsofthegarden.blogspot.com/2010/08/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-august-2010.html

And on this page here - http://plantlust.com/plants/salvia-greggii-desert-blaze/

I took some cuttings a few weeks ago, used some rooting gel and stuck them in a propagator. I don't know anything about this method but thought I'd give it a go. One dried up and died but all the others seem fine. I don't know if I have done it at the wrong time of year or anything, but I wondered if anyone had any tips to help these little things survive?

Keep them tucked up nicely in a cold frame, or a greenhouse (unheated) or a cold room inside the house to ensure they make it through the winter if its a bad one.

Thanks Bamboo :)

I read somewhere that when plants die in cold weather, its because their roots have gotten to cold, so I was thinking of wrapping the bottom of the propagator in bubble wrap.

Do you know if its true that roots getting to cold can cause plants to die?

It's a bit more complicated than that - some plants can't survive a winter because of their cell construction and physiology and are killed because the cells rupture all over, including in the leaves, when the weather drops below freezing or at the first frost. Others, like hardy fuchsias, survive pretty cold winters if they're in the ground, but are much more vulnerable if left out in pots, because they are vulnerable through the roots. Any plant in a pot in which the compost freezes solid for longer than 4 or 5 days will die though, no matter how hardy it is. So bubblewrapping smaller pots is a good idea to help insulate the whole plant and hopefully decrease the chances of the compost freezing.

Perfect, thanks Bamboo.