A Drought-Tolerant, Super-Blooming Workhorse

In the spring of 2014 , I was sent Vermillionaire ® firecracker plant to trial in the University of Tennessee Gardens . By midsummer it had become not only my favorite but also the favorite of every visitor . It receive the highest marks from our staff as well , and to my surprise , it come back from its roots the next spring . Each summertime since , this works has continued to remain firm out .

Tubular , fiery orangish - crimson efflorescence with highlight of lily-white and yellow are produced up and down the shank . The slightly glossy , mysterious greenish leaves contrast nicely with — and enhance — the flowers . It ’s easy to see where the common name “ banger plant ” comes from . While the blossom do n’t explode with sound , they do burst with color and right-down volume . No matter how spicy or humid it gets , Vermillionaire ® blooms nonstop from other summer until frost . Although it will permit some shade , six or more minute of full sunshine is dear for unsurpassed flowering and tight growth . It is patient of of droughty conditions once established , but when furnish with supplemental H2O during dry period and feed in every three or four weeks , it becomes a flowering machine . It also makes a expert cut blossom . Like allCuphea , Vermillionaire ® is high in essential oil colour , which makes it a nutritious nectar flora for bee , butterfly , good wasp , and hummingbird .

Although it ’s sold as a perennial in geographical zone 8 and warmer , for the most part it has been winter hardy in our Zone 7 garden . Even after winters where we have had brief full point dropping down to 0 ° F , most of the plants came back . If you ’re in an area where it is marginally hardy , it is dear not to cut it back until spring . An practical software of light mulch ( such as pine needle ) about 6 inches abstruse aid protect its roots . Even if it is not fearless in your garden , you wo n’t be disappoint in this plant as a bully flowering one-year . It attend striking in seam as well as in grass and makes an undischarged addition to any pollinator garden — or any garden , if I ’m being completely true .

Vermillionaire ® Firecracker Plant(Cuphea×Vermillionaire )

Zones:8 to 11

Conditions : Full sun ; fertile , well - drained soil

aboriginal kitchen range : Warm temperate to tropical neighborhood of the Americas

— Jason Reeves is the curator of the University of Tennessee Gardens , locate in Jackson .

picture : Nancy Ondra . Illustrations : Elara Tanguy .

informant :

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