Grow and Care for Scarlet Bouvardia

Grow scarlet bouvardia in full sun or part sun, in soil that drains, and water it until the roots take. Firecracker bush and trompetilla are the same plant. Bouvardia is the Latin.

Give it full sun or part sun, soil that drains, and water until it is set

Scarlet bouvardia wants full sun or part sun and a hole that drains. In a hot garden, a few hours of afternoon shade keeps the leaves from scorching. Water a new shrub through the first season, then stretch the watering so the soil dries between waterings. Wet soil around the roots is the usual cause of rot, and extra fertilizer makes the stems lanky so they flop. [1]

1. Choose full sun or part sun. A few hours of afternoon shade is fine in a hot garden. Deep shade is the usual reason the scarlet tubes stay thin.
2. Set it in soil that drains. Rocky, gravel, sand, loam, or clay is fine if water does not stand around the roots.
3. Water through the first season after planting. Then stretch the watering so the soil dries before you water again. A soak in a long dry spell brings more bloom.
4. Skip extra fertilizer unless the plant looks thin after a full season. Rich, wet ground is the usual cause of floppy stems.

Plant after frost, with the crown at soil level

Plant in spring after frost, or in fall where frost is rare. Knock the plant from its pot and set the root ball even with the surrounding soil. Dig a hole a little wider than the pot, and no deeper.

1. Plant in spring after frost, or in fall in a frost-free garden. Do not set a tender shrub into frozen soil.
2. Dig a hole about twice as wide as the root ball, and no deeper. Backfill with the same soil. Do not mix in extra compost that holds water around the roots.
3. Set the top of the root ball even with the surrounding soil. Do not bury the stems. [2]
4. Leave about 2 to 3 feet between plants so the shrub can fill. Water to settle the soil, then keep watering through the first season.

Grow it in a pot and bring it in before frost

Scarlet bouvardia also grows in a pot on a patio. Use a container of at least 3 gallons with a drainage hole, fill it with a potting mix that drains, and water when the top inch of mix is dry. It is not very winter hardy, so bring the pot indoors before a freeze. [3]

1. Choose a pot of at least 3 gallons with a drainage hole. Empty the saucer after you water so the roots do not sit wet.
2. Fill it with a potting mix that drains. Do not use a heavy garden soil that stays soggy.
3. Set the pot in full sun or part sun outdoors. Water when the top inch of mix is dry.
4. Bring the pot indoors before frost, and keep it in a bright window. Nursery plants still need frost protection. Water less while it rests, and do not feed it until new growth starts in spring. [4]

Cut it back in spring if you want a denser shrub

You do not have to prune scarlet bouvardia for it to bloom. If you want a denser shrub, cut it back by about one-third in spring, down to a set of leaves. Snip spent flower clusters if you want a neater plant. After a freeze kills the top, cut the dead wood once you can tell what is alive.

1. In spring, cut lanky stems back by about one-third, to a set of leaves, if you want a denser shrub.
2. Snip spent flower clusters after they fade if you want the plant to stay neat. Bloom does not require deadheading.
3. After a freeze, wait for new growth, then cut the dead wood. Do not pull the plant because the top looks brown in late winter.

How to take a cutting

The reliable way to copy a shrub you already like is a semi-hardwood cutting. Seed is listed as a start, but cuttings take faster and keep the flower you already have.

1. Take a 4-to-6-inch cutting in late spring or early summer, from a healthy stem that has begun to firm.
2. Strip the leaves from the lower half of the stem.
3. Dip the stripped end in rooting hormone if you have it. Hormone helps, but it is not required.
4. Push the stripped end into a mix that drains. Keep the mix barely moist, under a humidity cover or a plastic bag, in bright light out of hot direct sun, until roots form. Rooting can take several weeks.
5. Pot the rooted cutting, then plant it out once it is growing, at the same depth it grew in the pot.

Not firecracker plant — and not angel's trumpet

Scarlet bouvardia is Bouvardia, a Southwest shrub with scarlet tubes in loose clusters at the branch tips. Firecracker plant is often Russelia, a cascading fountain, or Cuphea, with smaller tubes — see How to Grow Cuphea. Firecracker flower is usually Crossandra, or a Dichelostemma bulb — see How to Grow Dichelostemma. Hummingbird bush is flame acanthus — see How to Grow Flame Acanthus.

A tag that says trumpet flower may be angel's trumpet, which is Brugmansia, a large hanging trumpet — see How to Grow Angel's Trumpet — or trumpet vine, which is Campsis — see How to Grow Trumpet Vine. Firebush is Hamelia, a larger orange-flowered shrub, not this plant. If the tag is not Bouvardia, you do not have this plant.

Set scarlet bouvardia in full sun or part sun, in soil that drains, and water it only until the roots take.