How many tried the new Hamelia cuprea [Bahamian Firebush] from Bustani Farms this year? I am interested in your overall impressions as well as its attractiveness for hummers. Is it the next Cuphea schumannii or not?

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Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Mine came with blooms, but has not flowered since May. The plant also seems to be slower growing than H. patens. I hope it will do better next year.

Priya
Zone 7, Maryland

I am glad to see that you started this thread. I have been curious as to what the others that tried it have thought. Ours has bloomed all summer but it is not nearly as heavy a bloomer as the other hamelia patens plants that we have. I have it situated with the other ones and maybe I shouldn't. I have seen limited use but not like on the regular hamelia plants. Maybe 6 or 7 blooms maximum open on any given day. It has grown well and I do intend to keep it over the winter. I like the looks of the plant.

I have no idea what is going on with the cuphea schumannii that I have this year. It is about 3 ft tall and sprawling all over but has had only about 10 blooms all summer. Last summer at this time it was loaded with blooms. I know what it is capable of and therefore will continue to grow it in the coming years. It is a plant I bought in the spring as the one from last year died.

Nancy - We have it in a container and it was in a very prominent location for about a month... casual interest from the hummers at best. I really wanted to like this because it's different, but based on our experience here, it's definitely not the next C. Schumannii, and not one that we will repeat next year. If you'd like, I'll figure out a way to ship this plant to you (Very healthy... 2 feet tall) Perhaps it will be more appealing to the Buff-bellied and Rufous crowd

We had sparse blooms for most of the summer and several blooms now. I've just now moved it back to a location where I can more easily observe any activity. I'll update you (with pics, of course) if my impressions change.

Bud
Southwest Ohio
USDA Plant Zone 6a

Camera: Pentax K20D
Lens: Pentax DA*300 f/4, Sigma 180 f/3.5 Macro
There's 1 or 2 more hummingbird / butterfly pics located here...
http://www.pbase.com/budohio

JP,
I have Cuphea schumannii in containers as well as in the ground. The ones in pots are blooming profusely. The ones in ground have much bigger leaves and look healthier but only have a few flowers. I thought they would be happier planted in soil, but I'm going to stick to containers.

Priya
Zone 7, Maryland

Nancy,

Haven't tried this one, love the blooms. My Hamelia Patens was well used by the hummers all season here though, but what I Don't need is another LARGE tropical to winter indoors. Thanks but no thanks!


Priya,

I noticed the same thing with Schumannii. Healthier looking leaves but less flowers when planted in the ground. The plants in pots all have curled and some blackened leaves, but they bloom like crazy!

Pam NJ 6B

My results with Hamelia cuprea are similar to everyone else's. Mine is in a container and has grown very little. I usually get 2 or 3 blooms at a time but on a couple of occasions have had as many as 6 blooms. It has been checked out but it doesn't seem to be a big draw. I can't compare it to C. schumanni since none of mine either in pots or in ground have bloomed but they sure have gotten big and sprawling. I would take Hamelia patens over H. cuprea any day. I still haven't decided if I will overwinter it or not. I have at least 6 C. Schumannii in pots that will be overwintered since some are in smaller pots so that I can hopefully get them to bloom and see what kind of response they get next year.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Thanks for everyone's input. I deliberately withheld my own experience so that the comments of others would not reflect my own views. However, I see that this attractive plant has not been an overwhelming success for bring hummers to our gardens. Of several plants in the original order, I kept 2 and distributed the others among other hummingbirders. One plant in a 3-gallon container has grown to about 2 feet and it is putting out a few flowers. A number of buds are developing, so flowering may improve in the next week or so. Hummers have been relatively scarce here and I have not seen any using the flowers though I know the blooms contain nectar. The second plant is struggling in a 1-gallon pot. It might be happier in the ground, but I simply don't have space to put it.

Adding the experiences of all of you to my own, it seems that Hamelia cuprea is not going to do for us what its larger cousin does. Down here, Hamelia patens tops 8 feet and regularly gets visited. My comment regarding Cuphea schumannii was to point out that it has been a stellar performer at Casa Colibrí.

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Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Mine is in a pot and looks decent but isn't flowering at the moment. I may put it in the ground in spring and see what happens. Schumannii really took off for me once I put it in the ground, but it did not enjoy the summer. It dropped a lot of leaves and those that stayed on the bush had burnt edges, but we did have an unusually hot, dry summer and it is in full sun. It's greening up now and I actually had a hummer today so maybe things will work out after all.

Joan Garvey - Metairie, LA Zone 9

I think that Hamelia cuprea is competing with a lot of other heavy hitters in our gardens. Most of us are overrun with everblooming salvias, vines, agastaches, etc. When I did see H. cuprea being used I had moved the pot in among some salvia, David Verity, and Stachys coccinea

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

We have this plant in a pot and it has grown and flowered pretty well considering we are here in the frozen north. Unlike Hamelia patens, it actually flowers for us. Unfortunately though, the blooms are not many and we have never had a hummingbird check it out. Of course, our hummer sightings are almost none recently, so it's hard to say. We'll keep you posted.

We have found that Cuphea schumannii is not as much of a hummer draw this summer as last. We have had an usually cool summer and maybe that is the reason. We have found that many of the juveniles don't know how to get into the flowers either. It is blooming quite well though, so who knows?

Please send hummers!!!



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Pryia

My cuphea schumannii is in a pot. Thanks for the info.

I had to bring this post back up to share my experience with it since I brought it inside.

I brought it in Monday or Tuesday of this week and it has exploded with blooms. I have 8 blooms fully open now with more starting to open. It is in my kitchen in front of the french doors. It has been raining all week so no sunshine to speak of ... just very grey skies. The sun is out right now but more rain expected this afternoon. I am tempted to put it outside for a while in hopes that my little visitor checks it out when she comes to the feeder if she is still here. I did see her at 6:54 this morning but haven't had a chance to check since then. I wonder if it will bloom all winter inside?

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Hello Nancy,

This is one of a few I won't be reordering. It had only grown a little, even after nearly 2 months of being in a pot from the beginning of May til just after the 4th of July when I wound up discarding it. It only bloomed for about a week...maybe 10 blooms total. Shortly afterwards, it literally shed most of it's leaves...which were shiny and green and not brown. Strange behavior.
Funny, our Coral plant and 2 Cupheas are still doing just fine...

Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5