Seen at Harwood House

Any ideas on this? A perennial, about two foot high. A gardiner was standing just by it, knew the plant, but couldn't recall its name!

 

I don't know it PeterS but it looks lovely.

 

Is it one of the fancy sages? I've got Tangerine sage which looks a bit like it . I can't see whether each stem is separate or whether it is a bush.

 

Liz - I think you must be right. Though its not one I have seen before, and am still bemused. The bend in the flower itself is very much a Salvia trait. The red stems should be a strong clue. I haven't seen red stems on a Salvia before, but some blue flowered ones such as S. farinacea 'Victoria' have very blue stems.

I have just been through my Salvia book (John Sutton) but without success. It has been in place all winter - so must be reasonably hardy. And there are not many hardy Salvias. Sadly the gardiner said that it didn't flower for that long, which is disappointing as so many Salvias are very long flowering.

I think all the stems were seperate - it wasn't a bush.