Creeping Hummingbird Trumpet

Epilobium canum subsp. garrettii 

Onagraceae

• Full sun (best) to part shade
• 1–1.5 ft tall × spreading to 18 in+ wide (rhizomatous groundcover)
• Drought Tolerance: Very high once established; thrives in lean, dry, disturbed soil
• Flower: Bright orange-scarlet trumpets, midsummer to frost (June–October)
• Wildlife Benefits: Outstanding hummingbird plant; butterflies & native bees

Creeping hummingbird trumpet is best known to customers under the older name Zauschneria garrettii, but the currently accepted botanical name is Epilobium canum subsp. garrettii; it also goes by firechalice, Garrett's firechalice, and California fuchsia. The garrettii subspecies is the northern, cold-hardy race of the species, native to the mountains of Idaho and Wyoming south to Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California, growing on sandy to rocky slopes, hillsides, and dry streambeds. Grow it in full sun for the best flowering, with part shade tolerated, in lean, sharply drained soil. It is very drought tolerant once established and thrives in disturbed, low-fertility sites. It dies back to the ground in winter and re-emerges from the roots in spring, spreading modestly by rhizomes to form a low groundcover. Pinching back new growth encourages a bushier shape.

From midsummer straight through to the first frost, the plant produces a long, generous succession of bright orange-scarlet, trumpet-shaped flowers up to about two inches long that droop gracefully from thin, arching stems, an exceptionally long bloom window that peaks when the garden most needs color. The narrow, medium-green leaves clothe the stems and take on purplish tones in fall. Low and spreading, it typically reaches about 1 to 1.5 feet tall and creeps to roughly 18 inches or more wide, making a vivid flowering groundcover for the front of a bed or the face of a rock garden.

This is one of the finest hummingbird plants available for the region: the tubular scarlet flowers are perfectly shaped for hummingbird visitation and bloom late into the season, supplying nectar just as the birds fuel up for their southward migration. Butterflies and native bees also work the flowers, and the Xerces Society recognizes the species for its special value to native bees. Regular watering while in bloom keeps the flower production going.

Use creeping hummingbird trumpet at the front of dry beds and borders, spilling over rock walls, or as a flowering groundcover in a hot, well-drained rock garden. It pairs beautifully with other hummingbird and pollinator plants that share its love of sun and lean soil: hummingbird mint and anise hyssop (Agastache spp.), penstemons, and sulfur buckwheat, and it weaves easily among stonecrops (Sedum) and other low xerics. Because it spreads by rhizomes, give it room to knit together or site it where a slow-creeping habit is welcome.