By Gary Wade
University of Georgia
Planting Cuphea in your landscape is like watching nonstop
fireworks at a Disney theme park. Three species readily available
and most commonly known as firecracker plant, tiny mice and tall
cigar plant all deserve their 2006 Georgia Gold Medal for annual
plants.
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These dependable, low-maintenance annuals not only tolerate the
heat and humidity of the South but have extended bloom periods.
They attract butterflies and hummingbirds like magnets. And
they’re versatile enough for container plantings or in-ground
beds.
Firecracker plant (Cuphea
ignea), ignites in abundant tubular, scarlet-red flowers
edged in black at the leaf axils along the stem. About a foot
tall, it’s a perfect companion plant for containers or window
boxes or for planting in front of taller plants in a perennial
border.
A light trimming in midsummer will encourage basal branching,
more compact plants and more fireworks until frost. Like the
other Cuphea species, firecracker plant does best in full sun and
moist, well-drained soils.
Tiny mice (Cuphea llavea)
is also known as Mickey Mouse plant and Georgia Scarlet.
It was first released as Georgia Scarlet from the University of
Georgia’s breeding program. The nursery trade gave it the other
names because its flowers resemble the face of a mouse, with two
red petals tinged in purple.
Children marvel at the hundreds of tiny mouse faces on short
spikes along the stems. Hummingbirds and butterflies visit the
plant in abundance, too, to collect nectar from the flowers.
Cuphea llavea grows up to 2 feet tall. It branches freely to form
a bushy, compact plant for containers or ground beds. Summer
cuttings root readily for sharing with neighbors and friends.
Tall cigar plant (Cuphea
micropetala) is a great background plant for perennial
borders, reaching 3 to 5 feet tall. Its 2-inch-long, cigar-shaped
blooms are reddish at the base, yellow in the middle and green at
the top.
The flowers emerge in the upper axils by mid to late summer,
tubular and keep coming until frost. By fall, the plant appears
to have caught fire.
If you cut tall cigar plants back and mulch them, they can
survive mild winters down to 20 degrees.
Watching these three terrific Cuphea plants perform in the
landscape will make it clear why they’re 2006 Georgia Gold Medal
winners.
(Gary Wade is a Cooperative Extension horticulturist with the
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.)
