🌺 Maui Red Ixora

Ixora coccinea ‘Maui Red’
The compact red ixora: flame-red clusters nearly year-round, on a smaller shrub that fits a foundation bed or a pot.
Sun
Full sun to partial shade
Mature size
3–4 ft tall and wide (compact form)
Spacing
3–4 ft apart
Soil pH
5.5–6.5, acidic
Zones
Zones 9b–11 outdoors; a container plant elsewhere — in Florida, a central and south peninsula plant

What it looks like

Ixora coccinea (species) — Ixora coccinea or jungle flame is a common flowering plant in the family Rubiacea native to South India and Srilanka. it is the national flower of Suriname.
Ixora coccinea, the species (no verified photo of ‘Maui Red’ itself exists). Photo: TNSE ruby tlr, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ixora coccinea (species) — Ixora coccinea
Ixora coccinea, the species (no verified photo of ‘Maui Red’ itself exists). Photo: Ajtjohnsingh, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ixora coccinea (species) — Ixora. La ixora es un género de plantas con 825 especies, pertenecientes a la familia de las Rubiáceas que florece todo el año. También se conoce como cruz de Malta, coralillo o Santa Rita.
Ixora coccinea, the species (no verified photo of ‘Maui Red’ itself exists). Photo: Wilfredor, CC0.

Why this variety

Maui Red is ixora in its classic colour and a smaller package: flame-red clusters nearly year-round, over glossy leaves, on a compact shrub 3–4 feet tall and wide that fits a foundation bed, a hedge, or a large pot. It is the ixora for gardeners who want the tropical red show without the 10-foot shrub — and it brings the same acid-soil demand as every ixora: give it pH 5.5–6.5, compost and pine bark, and it flowers like it is showing off; give it alkaline soil and it yellows promptly, which is the plant telling you the truth about your soil.

In Florida, Maui Red suits the central and southern peninsula in full sun to part shade. In north Florida it is a container plant, brought in before frost. Water deeply and consistently — ixora likes steady moisture — and feed through the growing season with an acid-loving fertiliser.

How to grow

Ixora is an evergreen tropical shrub with glossy leaves and dense round clusters of red, orange, yellow, pink or white flowers that bloom nearly year-round in warm climates — if you give it acid soil and stop apologising for the tropics. Plant in spring in full sun to part shade in rich, well-drained, acidic soil, and water deeply for the first season. In Florida, the acid soil is the whole game: ixora in alkaline soil turns yellow with iron chlorosis no matter how much you water, so amend with compost and pine bark, mulch with pine needles, and keep it away from concrete and limestone that leach alkalinity. In north Florida, grow it in a pot and bring it in before a freeze.

Water & feeding

Water deeply and consistently; ixora likes steady moisture and sulks in drought, but hates soggy ground. Feed regularly through the growing season with an acid-loving fertiliser, and watch leaf colour: yellowing between green veins means the soil is too alkaline or iron is locked out, not that the plant is hungry in general. A chelated iron treatment helps, but fixing the pH helps longer.

Common problems

Iron chlorosis from alkaline soil is problem number one, followed by scale and mealybugs on stressed plants, and cold damage in any freeze — ixora has no frost tolerance to speak of. Aphids may cluster on new growth. The honest summary: give it acid soil, sun and frost protection, and it flowers like it is showing off; deny it any one of those, and it tells you promptly.

Harvest

Cut flowers by the handful, nearly year-round in a warm garden, and a compact shrub that branches and reblooms after cutting. Deadhead spent clusters, watch for iron chlorosis (yellow leaves, green veins), and keep it frost-free — those three habits are the whole care programme.

Nerdy fact: Ixora coccinea’s species name means ‘scarlet’ in Latin, and the plant is the national flower of sorts in several tropical regions — a shrub so associated with warm climates that its presence in a garden is practically a weather report.

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Saving seeds

Maui Red is ixora in its classic colour and a smaller package: flame-red clusters nearly year-round, over glossy leaves, on a compact shrub 3 to 4 feet tall and wide that fits a foundation bed, a hedge, or a large pot. As a named ixora cultivar it is kept true by cuttings, not by seed — seedlings would not hold the compact size or the flame-red clusters. Plant in spring in full sun to part shade in rich, well-drained, acidic soil, pH 5.5 to 6.5, and water deeply and consistently. The full method is in the Propagation section of the Ixora guide.