A soft, leafy evergreen shrub with velvety green leaves and clusters of tubular orange flowers that hummingbirds work all day. It brings a lush look and steady color to shaded and filtered-sun spots where many desert shrubs struggle.
Living with it in the Phoenix Valley
Watering
Follow the shrub schedule in our Landscape Care guide. It tolerates some dryness but looks fuller with regular water. Too much water makes it leggy and cuts back on flowers.
Pruning
Cut back lightly in late winter to tidy frost damage and keep it dense. Heavy pruning late in the season can reduce the next bloom.
Soil
It needs good drainage and does poorly in caliche or salty soil, which brown the leaf edges. Plant it in a well-prepared bed.
Pests
Whiteflies are the most common issue. Root rot can appear where soil stays wet.
How our designers use it
Under a tree canopy
Our designers like it beneath mesquites and other light-shade trees, where it adds green and color without needing full sun.
Hummingbird gardens
Paired with other tubular-flowered plants, it helps keep nectar in the garden through the year.
Informal borders
Its soft, mounding form works as a low informal hedge or a foundation planting on north and east sides of the house.
Good to know
Around the pool
No thorns and little litter. It does best with some afternoon shade, so it fits shaded edges of a pool area better than open decking.
