Cuphea Vermillionaire: The Firecracker Plant

Cuphea Vermillionaire has deep green foliage with long, tubular orange/yellow/red flowers. Hummingbirds love this plant and will seek it out in a garden. Since it blooms from spring until frost in the fall, you have beautiful color in your garden for a long time. This plant loves heat and direct sun.

Once the plant is established, it is very drought tolerant. It makes a good filler when planted in a container with other plants because of its mounded growth habit and pretty flowers. Vermillionaire can mark a border well.  It makes a statement as a mass planting and can be a specimen plant in the landscape.

Care

Vermillionaire loves full sun and heat. It gets long and lanky in part shade. This plant requires regular fertilization from spring until the fall to keep reblooming. No deadheading is necessary, the flowers will drop off when spent. While the adult plant is very drought tolerant, it needs regular watering when growing. Vermillionaire does fine with average soil.

Vermillionaire should not be cut back in winter. If there are issues with dead material, or the plant gets leggy, prune it when it starts new growth in the spring. If you bring this plant indoors for the winter, it will need direct sun and a warm place to stay. If you live in a zone colder than 8a, the plant won’t make it through the winter, so plan on planting replacements next spring.

Optimal Growing Conditions

Hardiness Zone
Zones 8-11

Water Needs
Average

Sun Needs
Full Sun

Appearance and Characteristics

Category
Annual

Flower Color
Orange, red and yellow shades

Foliage Color
Green shades

Blooming Time
Planting to frost

Height
18-28 Inches

Spread
12-24 Inches

Plant Uses & Characteristics
Attracts Hummingbirds
Drought tolerant once established
Mounding
Container filler
Great for container, landscape, mass planting or as a border plant
Easy maintenance

Information courtesy of PlantAddicts.com