Flame Acanthus
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- In stock, ready to ship
Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii
Common names include Flame Acanthus, Hummingbird Bush, Wright's Desert Honeysuckle, Wright Acanthus, Mexican Flame, Wright's Mexican Flame
Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii, affectionately known as the Texas firecracker, is a charming upright shrub growing up to 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide, showcasing a lovely spreading and informal look. This hardy plant is native to the warm, sunny areas of extreme south-central Texas and the neighboring northern parts of Mexico, often thriving on rocky, limestone slopes and floodplains. With its slender, brittle stems and attractive peeling bark, it adds character to any garden. The small, nearly clasping leaves have a lovely lanceolate shape that complements its vibrant blooms. From spring to late summer, after rainfall, this plant bursts forth with numerous bright red-orange tubular flowers, making it a favorite among hummingbirds, butterflies, and other pollinators—while deer tend to steer clear of it. It is also a host plant for several butterfly species!
For the best results, this plant loves full sun and prefers medium to dry, well-draining soils. It’s quite adaptable, thriving in a variety of soil types, including poor, rocky, and heavy clay soils. Plus, it’s drought-tolerant and can even be grown in pots! In desert landscapes, a little regular irrigation during the summer helps it flourish. In Zones 7 to 10, the Flame Acanthus may die back to its roots in colder areas during winter, but it willcome back to life in spring with fresh new growth.
While pruning isn’t necessary, you can gently trim it in the fall for shape or give it a more substantial pruning every few years if desired.
Height: 3’-5'
Spread: 3’-4'
Bloom: June-September
Light: Full Sun-Dappled Shade
Water: Low
Zone: 7-10
Origin: Texas & Mexico
Spring Shipping:
Orders are shipped within 10-15 business days. We will email you if there are expected delays.
When you order plants from our nursery, you can expect them to arrive in the best possible condition. Our team carefully packs each order using sturdy, biodegradable packaging materials.
Your plants' appearance may vary depending on the season and their current growth stage. We may cut back the leafy growth of some plants to prepare them for shipment and transplanting.
5 Gallon and Up: Any plant purchased to ship over 5 Gallons will be shipped bare root. This means we will remove the plant from its original pot, remove the soil surrounding the roots, and wrap the roots with a biodegradable plastic bag. This reduces weight and the likelihood of damage during shipping.
Once your plants arrive, it is essential to plant them as soon as possible. This will help them rebound and thrive. If you cannot plant immediately, water regularly and keep the roots off heat-conducting surfaces.
Newly transplanted plants often require more water until their roots are well established. Plan to water them 1-3 times weekly for the first few months.
Pairs well with
Customer Reviews
Overall rating: 4.9 / 5 from 45 reviews.
Plant arrived in great shape! Very satisfied with this purchase.
Healthy plant, well-packaged. Started blooming soon after planting.
My plant is looking great so far! No wilting at all in this hot weather.
So pleased with the packing. Arrived in excellent condition. Couldn't plant it right away because of finally a deluge of rain in our North Central Texas area but left it where it could catch moisture. Started blooming; planted and still blooming! Thank you. Looking forward to spring and hummers!
I love this place! They have the best selection of native plants that are available for the ideal planting time. Here in southern NM, October is perfect as the weather has cooled to 80's in the day and 50's at night. This is a gallon plant and as you see, it's very healthy, and almost 20" tall!
My experience was great.
The plants arrived in excellent condition!
Great flowers!
Great spot for hard to find indigenous plants! The customer service was excellent and very knowledgeable. I do plan on making another trip soon for native ground cover. The choices are extremely nice. 😊
Hello. We live in Central Virginia. We bought a 2 gal and 1 gal Flame Acanthus from you July 5th. The plants arrived on the 11th and we planted them the next day and watered them well. Over the next few days and weeks we had one of the wettest Julys we have had in many, many years. We were worried the wetter conditions would hamper the plants but they adjusted well and looked quite robust. As expected, the heat of summer did not seem to bother them at all. We didn’t expect them to bloom this year but we were delighted to see one small bloom on the larger one today (Oct 11th). We will soon have a frost which will make them go dormant; but, we are looking forward to spring and summer and having them come back strong and produce many more blooms into the fall. Thank you.
Excellent
Good healthy looking plant when it arrived. Packaged well
Plants look healthy packed well very healthy excited. Will send photos soon.
Arrived looking healthy will see how it goes over time too soon to tell
Need more
Plants look good
I'll be happy if it makes it through the winter and comes back next spring.
Well packed. used the cardboard for my composting
I was pleasantly surprised how good the plants looked shipping to Texas in the heat. Great plants!
Plants arrived on time and looked very healthy.
All plants were in good shape with one even blooming! There was a lot of loose dirt in the box but I put it back in the ones that needed it. One had about 2 inches broken off but I put it in a little pot to see if it would root. I am very pleased with the plants and will plant in the ground as soon as the weather improves. Thank you.
A favorite. Healthy
Small plants but they are thriving.
The Acanthus arrived healthy despite the mail carrier leaving the package upside down on the porch which I believe broke the other plant I ordered. I have no complaints with Native Gardeners and will use them again!
I planted next to an autumn sage. Am feeding Miracle Gro to help get a good start. Am ancious to see blooms.
All good, planted in the flower bed
I love that Native Gardners sells not only larger size plants but 4 inch plants. This particular plant I've not grown before but it's healthy and should do well here in Dallas. This is a great nursery and I highly recommend them for native plants!
Plants arrived happy and healthy, thank you.
Working with Native Gardeners was a great experience. They were very helpful and I would highly recommend buying your products from them!
I was VERY pleased with the flame acanthus. It looked very good and very healthy. And excellently packaged. Just great!
Plants came well packaged and healthy looking.
Healthy plant, arrived travel weary but healthy.
Very healthy and wrapped with care ! It’s going to be a great addition for my pollinator garden! I will definitely purchase more plants!
Already blooming!! Planted in late June.
All the plants arrived larger than expected and in ready to plant condition!
Very pleased with the way they are growing!
Nice healthy plants! Flourishing in the pot after just 3 days ! A++ Seller
one of my favs. plants arrived packaged super well and the plant is a good size and very healthy with lots of leaves.
Shopping here was great. We called to make sure the plants we wanted were in stock. The plants were healthy and in good shape.
They both arrived looking very healthy and happy.
