PlantFiles: Firespike, Cardinal Guard, Scarlet Flame
Odontonema strictum

I received a cutting of this plant from my daughter and grow it in Saucier, MS. I love this plant because of its low maintenance and easy care. The beauty of it is an added bonus.

I love this plant. Three years ago, I got a start from a DG friend that I kept on the kitchen windowsill. I planted it in a shady place where the soil was not great, and it did not make it the next spring. However, the 3 cuttings I rooted did fine in a cool greenhouse, flouished and bloomed well last year, and came back again this year. Soil conditions were definitely better. However, they get wilty in the afternoon sun, even in their second year in the ground, so I have last year's cuttings in part to full shade, where they are growing well, but a little more upright. Last year's plants made it to perhaps 20' x 20". I suspect they will be bigger this year. The foliage is wonderful, pest free, glossy; and the fall flowers are unique for that time of year. Our last winter was a little mild, but still reached close to our typical lows, so I am hopeful that this plant will do well overwinter if well rooted and mulched.

Peter

i like the thick, waxy leaves. i have it in morning sun. freezes to the ground here but returns in the spring. easy to root. the only negative here is that it blooms so late in the season and is usually frozen to the ground just as it begins to bloom.

I have one of these blooming beautifully in part shade in poor soil with almost no care except I cut back some of the slightly tattered stalks. Its foliage and flowers are just lovely.

Dug this up from a fellow Floridian's yard because they wanted it gone. Divided it in two and planted this Firespike in pretty much full sun areas. From the photo I posted, you can see the shiny leaves are smaller, about and inch long. The stems are shorter, about 3 feet tall, than others posted here as being planted in more shade. The red-orange flowers bloomed late winter and early this spring this year. It's the end of July and have seen no insect damage or trouble at all. Will take cuttings and try planting one in part shade. Really like this colorful trouble-free bush.

I have Firespike in partial shade. This is a really pretty plant,blooms attract butterflies. Very easy to root cuttings. Mine has been cut-back several times, bounces back with very thick, green, foliage & pretty blooms.

hummingbirds love this plant

I have some in full shade and some in part shade.

Full shade plants are about eight feet tall, dark green, and a bit thin, but still attractive.

Part shade plants are six feet tall, medium green, and thick.

In both cases, the plants spread quickly. I have had great success with cuttings and division.

This plant, native to Mexico and Central America, solves the problem of having a shady area (mine are planted in dappled shade and full shade) where very few plants will grow, much less bloom. In San Antonio, it is grown for its beautiful deep green bushy tropical foliage in the spring, summer and late fall and its magnificent glow-in-the dark red blooms from early to middle August until the first freeze. Firespike (fire spike) can serve as a substitute for the hosta that tends to be devoured by snails and mealy bugs (pill bugs)in this area of Texas. However, I planted light green and white hosta in the foreround around these plants, have been vigilantly attacking the snails and mealy bugs and the hostas are doing fine. It can be grown as a tropical container plant. I would not recommend that it be planted in full sun in my area, although I have not tried them in full sun.

Mine die to the ground after the first freeze, reemerge in spring and grow to more than 4 feet tall. I fertilize them with an all purpose fertilizer if the color of the leaves start to pale in color which is usually only once in midsummer. This plant can be grown in heavy clay soils and wet conditions. In the 108 degree weather in August this year, they wilted somewhat, but sprang back to life as it cooled down in the evenings and/or I provided some water. The firespike (fire spike) is one of my favorite plants because it is relatively care free, appears to be insect resistant, provides outstanding color in the shade, blooms late when the garden needs some new attraction, is not invasive and requires less water once estalished than my other flowering shade plants. It needs to be more widely used in south and central Texas.

Note: There is a purple or fuscia-pink ... Odontonema callistachyum that I just found.

Firespike is a showy evergreen shrub with sparse, stiff branches that grow mostly straight up to about 6' tall. It has shiny dark green leaves with wavy margins and long pointed tips. The leaves are oblong, arranged opposite each other on the stem, and 4-6" long. From late summer through winter firespike produces abundant upright panicles of brilliant red tubular flowers. Firespike does well in full sun and better in partial shade. Once established it can tolerate all but the longest droughts. In frost-free areas firespike grows as an evergreen semi-woody shrub. In zones 8 and 9 it usually dies back to the ground in winter and resprouts in spring. It spreads by underground sprouting, enlarging to form a thicket, but it is easy to control and keep contained. Firespike is one of the few red tubular flowers to bloom in autumn and is very popular with hummingbirds and all kinds of butterflies. Unfortunately, white-tailed deer love Firespike too, and will eat the leaves. Defoliated plants will grow new leaves, but if the deer persist, the plant eventually will be killed.