Dwarf Mexican Fire Bush, Hamelia, Firebush

Description

Clusters of fiery-orange tubular flowers are seemingly borne continuously from mid to late spring to fall, where grown as a die-back perennial, to potentiallynearly year-round under warm tropical conditions attracting mainly hummingbirds but also larger butterflies. The Dwarf Mexican Firebush, Hamelia patens var. glabra 'Nana', is a naturally evergreen, heat and sunloving, tropical shrub that acts like a die-back perennial returning from the crown in spring in areas where freezes occur.This compact form of the Mexican Firebush lends itto use in smaller spaces andcontainers as well as in the garden and landscape. The Dwarf Mexican Firebushappears to be just as hardy as the standard larger growing form and we have seen it take temperatures as low as 8oF with no problems carrying its hardiness well into zone 8. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained, fertile soilfor optimum vigor and continuous flowering.

In areas where freezes may occur, plant the Hamelias out as early in the growing season as possible but after all danger of freeze and frost have passed, to ensure the plants develop a strong crown before winter sets in. A breatheable but insulative organic mulch will further help to protect the crown from harsh winter temperatures. Even the dwarf form of the Hamelias can build into large shrubs in areas where hard freezes do not occur and can be kept smaller by pruning them back to as low as 6" high in spring once new growth begins.

Hamelia or Mexican Fire Bush are actually small trees in their native Mexico but make excellent heat and sun loving perennial Hummingbird magnets that flower from summer to frost. In the words of noted plantsman Greg Grant "it's the only plant that I know which actually performs better the closer it gets to spontaneous combustion". With good drought tolerance and tolerance of a wide variety of soil types the Firebush makes an excellent die-back perennial in the northern reaches of its hardiness range or it can grow into a large shrub or even a small tree in mild winter climates.