Posted 9:41 pm Thursday, November 01, 2012
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Firespike 'really giving us a show right now'
BY DEE BISHOP
Firespike (Odontonema strictum) is really giving us a show right now.
Firespike (Odontonema strictum) is really giving us a show right now.
In the IDEA Garden inside Tyler Rose Garden behind the building and across the drive, you will see ours blooming. Electrical red spikes of tubular blooms reach above the bright green foliage and demand attention.
Firespike is a tropical; so it will go down with the first frost, and I mean down, as in turning jet black. Do not despair though, the roots are very much alive and the plant will return once warm weather returns in late spring.
Migrating hummingbirds and fall butterflies love the nectar Firespike provides. Usually blooming from late summer until that first frost, Firespike gives a good show at a time when the garden looks a bit bedraggled.
You will also love the rich green very tropical foliage all summer too. Requirements for this plant are simple: full sun to part shade. It will even grow in quite a lot of shade, but will not bloom as much.
It loves sun, heat, and humidity (which all Texans can readily provide) and good soil. Taking regular water but surviving much less, Firespike is an easy plant.
Migrating hummingbirds and fall butterflies love the nectar Firespike provides. Usually blooming from late summer until that first frost, Firespike gives a good show at a time when the garden looks a bit bedraggled.
You will also love the rich green very tropical foliage all summer too. Requirements for this plant are simple: full sun to part shade. It will even grow in quite a lot of shade, but will not bloom as much.
It loves sun, heat, and humidity (which all Texans can readily provide) and good soil. Taking regular water but surviving much less, Firespike is an easy plant.
Look for Firespike in the summer. You need to get one early so it can become well-rooted before cold weather.
Once it freezes, cut it to the ground and mulch with pine straw to protect its roots in winter. Give it plenty of room to grow, because it will get 3- to 4-foot fall tall and 2- to 3-foot wide.
Dee Bishop is a Smith County Master Gardener. She writes about plants growing in Tyler Rose Garden.
Once it freezes, cut it to the ground and mulch with pine straw to protect its roots in winter. Give it plenty of room to grow, because it will get 3- to 4-foot fall tall and 2- to 3-foot wide.
Dee Bishop is a Smith County Master Gardener. She writes about plants growing in Tyler Rose Garden.
