Firebush (Hamelia patens)

Also known as: Scarlet bush

Quick Facts

• Type: shrub
• Size: 6-12 ft tall
• Sun: full
• Water: moderate
• Soil: Adaptable; sandy to loamy
• USDA zones: 9-11

Tubular red-orange flowers that hummingbirds fight over, followed by black berries birds love.

Dies back in Central Florida freezes and roars back by summer; plant it where hummingbirds will find it.

In the Landscape

A standout specimen or accent plant, great in butterfly and hummingbird gardens, mixed borders, and mass plantings. It blooms best in full sun, though the foliage looks lusher with a little shade.

Care & Propagation

Plant in late spring or early summer after frost danger has passed, spacing plants 3 to 5 feet apart. It is root-hardy through zone 9 but dies back in hard freezes, so mulch the roots in winter and let it regrow from the base. Fertilize sparingly and prune as needed to keep it in bounds, but avoid over-pruning or you will cut off the flowers.

Propagate from fresh seed (it loses viability quickly) or from cuttings taken in warm weather; keep cuttings very warm, around 85 degrees, for best rooting. Seeds sprout in about three weeks in warm, moist soil.

Wildlife Value

The tubular orange-red flowers are a magnet for hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees through the warm months, and the black berries that follow feed birds. Few native shrubs pull in this much wildlife traffic at once.

🌱 Fun fact: In frost-free South Florida it can bloom nearly year-round, and there is even a dwarf cultivar called 'Firefly' with leaves and flowers about half the normal size.

← Browse all Florida native plants

🌴 In Florida

Dies back in Central Florida freezes and roars back by summer; plant it where hummingbirds will find it.

🌿 Keep exploring

More Florida natives worth meeting:

• Adam's Needle (Yucca filamentosa)
• Allegheny chinquapin (Castanea pumila)
• American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)