I have seen a site selling four different colors. What are the positives and negatives of this plant? One place I read said deer like to eat them. Can they grow decent in a three gal plant? Thoughts on the firespike.

Is this firespike? or firebush? I forgot which is which. But the hummers love these things. I have several. As for deer, i could'nt tell'ya. I just googled it and this is firespike. Very east to grow, and they seem to like pots better than in the ground. They root super easy also. They say full sun, but do better in a little sun. The ones i planted in full sun did'nt do well at all. I have some in almost full shade and they do the best. They bloom in fall and winter.

P.S. Go Gators.....

I only know of two colors of Firespike, Red and Purple.

I grow Firespike (Odontonema tubaeforme) and the Butterflies and Hummingbirds love the red flowers!


When we lived in zone 9a Daytona Beach, I also had Purple Firespike (Odontonema callistachyum) in my garden too and I wish that I'd taken cuttings before we moved! It was pretty but it didn't seem to attract the hummingbirds and butterflies like the red one!

I've heard that deer do like Firespike and will eat the leaves but we didn't have that problem, thankfully!

The red version does very well here, though it dies back some when we get freezy weather. I grew one from a cutting, and somehow have 3-4 large plants now. The hummers love them.

I had the impression that they were all similar in terms of hardiness, so I recently ordered a plant of the Purple Firespike. When it arrived, the plant looked good, but the somewhat oblique care instructions implied that it was only hardy to zone 10?

I'm hoping that just means that it won't winterkill in zone 10 or warmer, and not that it will actually die in colder zones. Can anyone comment about whether the different species are equally hardy? I'm fine with babying plants through their first winter, but am not really interested in zone-pushing.

Thanks,
Virginia

I"m in zone 9b, I have red and purple, the purple is much more cold hardy, I do have oak trees overhead, they have not ever frosted to the ground, and we have gone below freezing a few times since I've had them, even a few hours upper 20's on the rare occasion, might get a bit droopy, but perk back up. The red is pretty hardy, but mine is in more open area, and has been damaged, by frost, but does come back. Seems the red is more a summer/fall bloomer and the purple is more winter/spring bloomer in my garden. Hummers love them both. In the late spring my purple is done blooming, so i hack it back, both are very easy to propagate from stem cuttings.

This pic was taken in the end of Feb. after a pretty cold winter a few years back, you can see the freeze burn on the Schefflera in the back of it. By the way, I ended up digging this whole plant up and moving it to another spot in the garden since it got too big for where it was, did just fine.

Excellent. This is what I was hoping to hear. I'm in 8b/9a, and sometimes the red firespike dies back some, but with a mild winter, it doesn't. I figured even if you're a zone or so warmer, you'd be able to tell if one plant was more tender than the other.

Until I saw your photo with the hummer, I don't think I even realized there was a purple version, so thanks for sharing that.

scvirginia said:Excellent. This is what I was hoping to hear. I'm in 8b/9a, and sometimes the red firespike dies back some, but with a mild winter, it doesn't. I figured even if you're a zone or so warmer, you'd be able to tell if one plant was more tender than the other.

Until I saw your photo with the hummer, I don't think I even realized there was a purple version, so thanks for sharing that.

Your welcome, of course the first winter protect it, hope you get a nice clump like mine.