Cuphea ignea in the garden of Robin Diehm

Since my mention of Cuphea cyanea in last week's blog, I have been thinking quite a lot about these handy little shrubs, so I decided to give them their own blog! The genus Cuphea contains approximately 260 species of flowering annuals, evergreen perennials, subshrubs and shrubs are native to Central and South America. The various species range from low-growing herbaceous plants to semi-woody shrubs up to 2 m in height. Their provenance means that they are ideal for our Sydney climate, in which they can potentially sport their dainty flowers all year round. In cooler areas, they are grown as annuals in the warmer seasons, as they are susceptible to frost. The ones that do best here are mainly small-leaved, soft-wooded sub-shrubs, which grow best in sun but will also do quite well in part shade. They are perfect for compact spaces in the garden to give a splash of colour. They enjoy a well-drained position. All are suited to being grown in a container.

The most well-known species is probably Cuphea ignea, the so-called cigar or cigarette plant (pictured at the start of the blog). The narrow, orange-red, tubular flowers are edged at their tips with white and purplish-black, giving the appearance of ash at the end of a cigar or cigarette. It is a cheerful little shrub growing about 60 cm tall. It seems to always be in bloom. It may layer to form a wide mound. It is useful for a border of hot-coloured shrubs and perennials. It is quite drought tolerant.

Cuphea ignea Starfire Pink at right with Salvia Wendys Wish in the garden of Carolyn Hughes in Sydney

Cuphea ignea Starfire Pink at right with Salvia Wendys Wish in the garden of Carolyn Hughes in Sydney

'Starfire Pink' seems to possibly be cultivar of Cuphea ignea, and it has pink, lavender and white tubular flowers, and grows a little taller up to 90 cm. It is a pretty and long-flowering shrub, and associates well with Salvia 'Wendy's Wish' or Strobilanthes dyeriana to echo the colours of its blooms. Its flowers are also very similar in shape to those of Plectranthus 'Cape Angels' cultivars, and the purple form of this would make a good companion to the Cuphea.

Cuphea cyanea

Cuphea cyanea

Cuphea cyanea also has slim tubular flowers - the one I grow is possibly the basic species: it has soft orange blooms with darker-coloured tips. It gets to about 60 cm tall. Known colloquially as the Mexican firecracker, it flowers over a long period from late spring to mid-winter. It is covered in flowers at the moment! It looks good paired with blue flowers or to provide a textural contrast to more solid-looking flowers such as Dahlia. This species seems to have a number of different coloured forms: 'Pink Mouse' has pink flowers with yellow tips. 'Caribbean Sunset' has orange flowers with yellow tips. A recent release has been 'Honeybells', with reddish and yellow flowers.

Cuphea Ballistic

Cuphea Ballistic

A distinctive hybrid form of Cuphea, called 'Ballistic' is the result of a deliberate cross between Cuphea ignea and Cuphea lanceolata by a Queensland breeder. It has a good mounding habit. The blooms are larger than the other species mentioned above, and they are a striking combination of a pink-purple flower tube with larger dark purple petals with a white lip. It grows about 60 cm tall and can bloom all year round, though its main flowering season is spring through to autumn. The colours of the flowers lend themselves to pairings with plants with flowers or leaves of a similar hue - such as a pink/purple-marked coleus. I also have a specimen growing beneath a tall, burgundy-flowered Amaranthus that looks effective.

Cuphea llavea (bat-faced Cuphea) has blooms with even more pronounced petals at the tips, looking like ears. 'Tiny Mice' (ht 40 cm) is a red-flowered cultivar that is quite eye-catching, but I have not yet grown it.

Cuphea hyssopifolia

Cuphea hyssopifolia

Quite different in appearance to the other species, Cuphea hyssopifolia has tiny, star-shaped flowers of purple or white on a dense, rounded bush (ht 60 cm). It is known as false or Mexican heather, and it can be used as a low. clipped hedge, or mass-planted as an easy-care, mounded groundcover.

The only species that I have tried but didn't like was Cuphea micropetala, sometimes called the candy corn plant. It is a rhizomatous plant that can reach a metre tall, with Penstemon-like foliage and orange-yellow. tubular flowers. It just looked straggly to me and I was worried it might spread into a big clump with those rhizomes!

All the Cyphea plants mentioned in this blog can be pruned back in late winter to shape them; if they bloom all year, they can be just trimmed very lightly every so often. I sometimes find the plants hard to propagate - layering seems to work better. They all seem to need to be replaced by a fresh plant every couple of years, after all that flowering!