Just a small word of warning: If you are trying to save any seed pods, harvest them as soon as the pods turn brown. The pods will explode and eject the seeds soon after they do.

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I just recently acquired this plant at a local plant sale, so I haven't had it long enough to know much about it. I've been told that it's a hummingbird magnet, which is the main reason I brought it home. I look forward to next spring to see if indeed the flying jewels are attracted to these flowers. I've read that this is a vining shrub and my plan is to keep it pruned to more of a shrub-like form if it does show tendencies to wander and grow like a vine. I've heard differing stories of the zones this plant prefers, and because we sometimes get frost and hard freezes in this area, I will keep it containerized for at least the first year. There is also a variety of Ruttya fruticosa with yellow flowers ... I'm going to be on the lookout for that one in the near future!

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Just a few thoughts and observations of my year of owning ruttya fruticosas.

When I got my plants, they were in small pots. I repotted them and they spent all summer growing. They did bloom after it was time to bring them in, which was when temps started to get to a chilly 39-40F at night for me. I noticed it damaged one of the larger buds, although I think the leaves and roots can take a little bit colder temps.

If you want to repot them, I recommend waiting until after they bloom. They tend to go through a cycle: grow, then leaves and stems mature/harden, bud, then bloom, maybe grow a seed pod or two and start growing again. A few leaves yellow during the maturing. I usually pinch them off. I also hand pollinated most of my blooms with fallen blooms. Not sure if they will seed on their own or not. The small green bean-like seed pods do explode, ejecting the seed soon after turning from green to brown. After the first one exploded, I picked the rest of mine when they started turning brown and let them finish maturing in a sealed tupperware container.

If you want to take cuttings to overwinter or just keep it at a small manageable size, all of mine came from new growth and most were grown in an aquarium with grow light, but I believe they are quite easy to root in moist soil and good lighting, whether it is a sunny room or fluorescent lighting.

They do tend to drip small drops of nectar. I had mine overwintering on plastic in the basement. I definitely recommend a smooth or cleanable surface underneath any pot inside or pinching back any stems overhanging the rim of the pot.

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I grew both the yellow and orange forms for several years and they never bloomed until about November. The yellow was always a couple of weeks later than the orange. We usually have freezes before then, so they would be on the glassed-in porch, making a mess with their copious nectar. I was hoping they would be good nectar plants for the hummingbirds, but clearly that didn't work because the plants were inside and the hummingbirds had migrated away for the winter. When they got a bad mealybug infestation one winter, I just got rid of them. The flowers really are adorable...if only they bloomed earlier.

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