Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Scarlet Bush, Firecracker Bush

Description:

A beautiful compact cultivar, producing a tidy mound of green foliage; presents orange-red tubular flowers for most of the year, that are loved by hummingbirds; evergreen and larger growing in frost free climates; great for containers and borders

Ornamental Features

Firefly Firebush features showy cymes of orange tubular flowers with red overtones at the ends of the branches from late winter to early winter. It features an abundance of magnificent black berries in early fall. Its pointy leaves emerge coppery-bronze in spring, turning emerald green in colour the rest of the year. The brick red stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes

Firefly Firebush is a multi-stemmed annual with a more or less rounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Firefly Firebush is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Firefly Firebush will grow to be about 5 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 7 feet. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selection of a native North American species.

Firefly Firebush is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.