Deciduous shrubSmall spaceFoundation plantingPollinatorsNativeFast growing

Firebush

Hamelia patens

A heat-loving shrub with clusters of red-orange tubular flowers from late spring to frost that hummingbirds and butterflies crowd, then berries for songbirds, and leaves that redden in fall. It's drought tolerant once established. In frost it dies back to the roots and regrows; it flowers best in full sun.

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Firebush: flowers — Photo: Kingaustin07, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mature size: 5 × 4 ft; 1.5 × 1.2 m, tall × wide
Hardiness: Zones 8b–11b; USDA
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Blooms: Jun–Oct

Firebush at its mature size

A mature Firebush grows to about 5 ft tall and 4 ft 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, UF/IFAS Extension.

Through the year

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

In leaf · Nov–May

Pointed leaves tinged red, few flowers.

In flower · Jun–Oct

Clusters of orange-red tubular flowers.

Photos

Firebush: detail — Detail · Ping an Chang, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Growing Firebush

Grows well in: The Southeast, the Plains and Mountain West, the desert Southwest, and California.
Growth rate: Fast
Good for: Small space, foundation planting, pollinators, and fast growing
Leaves: Drops its leaves in winter
Native to: Florida, Mexico to South America, and Caribbean

Spacing

VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Firebush, that’s about 4 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.