PerennialDrought tolerantPollinatorsNativeFast growing

California Fuchsia

Epilobium canum

A sprawling California native with brilliant red-orange tubular flowers from late summer into fall, when little else blooms, and a magnet for hummingbirds. It's drought tolerant and does best in full sun and soil that drains; near the coast it needs no summer water once settled, while inland it wants a little.

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California Fuchsia: whole plant — Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mature size: 1.5 × 3 ft; 0.5 × 0.9 m, tall × wide
Hardiness: Zones 7b–10b; USDA
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry
Blooms: Aug–Oct

California Fuchsia at its mature size

A mature California Fuchsia grows 1 to 4 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide.

Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.

Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: San Marcos Growers, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Through the year

What California Fuchsia looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.

In leaf · Nov–Jul

Small narrow silvery gray-green leaves, no flowers.

In flower · Aug–Oct

Scarlet-orange tubular trumpet flowers along the stem tips.

Photos

California Fuchsia: flowers — Flowers · SAplants, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Growing California Fuchsia

Grows well in: California and the desert Southwest.
Growth rate: Fast
Good for: Drought tolerant, pollinators, and fast growing
Leaves: Dies back in winter
Native to: California, Western United States, and Northern Mexico

Spacing

VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For California Fuchsia, that’s about 3 ft apart, center to center.

Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.