Epilobium, California Fuchsia, Hummingbird Trumpet 'Orange Carpet'

My gardens are informal, more woodland and cottage type than manicured. So this plant may not be for everyone, but I love it. It does i...Read Morendeed get rangy and can seed itself, but not excessively. It's bright orange is very cheerful and hummingbirds frequent it.

Strangely enough this plant has survived for 3 years in my zone 4 garden. It bloomed nicely the first year. However as might be expecte...Read Mored it is just clinging to life for the past two and I just get a few blooms. It's always fun to try though.

I have had very good luck with this plant and also the 'Wayne's Silver' variety. I have a xeric area in my perennial bed with stone surro...Read Moreund and have not had success with many xeric types of plants - the temperature is hot enough for them but my region is too wet and many that I've planted died out after one year. Not so with the fire chalice. The Orange Carpet is rangy and sprawling and is exactly the right habit to stretch out under a rosebush and cascade over the stonework. The leaves are a fine medium green that looks very delicate among other perennials. The Wayne's Silver has twiggier stems and a more rigid mounding habit.

According to Sunset New Western Garden Book, one should be cautious about planting Zaushneria. "Most grow a bit rangy, spread into other...Read More garden beds with invasive roots, go to seed and reseed themselves, and become twiggy and ungroomed through the winter."