Hummingbirds and Gardeners Agree…

This plant is a winner! Once you have one you’re probably not going to want to garden without it again. At least not in the southern two-thirds of Texas where it’s dependably winter-hardy.

You can see why the plant is so popular. It smothers itself in small, tubular flowers and it stands up to the heat as well.
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The facts about this great little plant…
• Native to the Hill Country and southwest into Mexico.
• Grows in calcareous, rocky outcroppings.
• Grows to 4 to 5 ft. tall and wide in South Texas; not that tall in North Texas where it frequently freezes to the ground and regrows from its roots (acting more like a perennial).
• Root-hardy to Dallas/Fort Worth and the I-20 corridor and southward. May be lost in extreme winters toward the north end of its range.
• Handles full Texas sun, heat and relatively dry conditions.
• Blooms for many weeks in the summer.
• Its small, tubular flowers are hummingbird magnets.

This is a clump of flame acanthus that I photographed in McKinney just a couple of weeks ago. It was too hot for butterflies or hummingbirds to be working the blooms while I was there, but I’ll bet they had been busy earlier in the morning. This plant is such a delight.

I’m a big fan of understated plants that do their jobs without calling out a lot of attention to themselves. Plants like Mexican heather and fall aster really excite me, and so does this one. It’s just a little shrub until it suddenly bursts into bloom – and then just look at what you have!

Posted by Neil Sperry
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