California Fuchsia, Epilobium canum

About California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum) 85 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Epilobium canum is beautiful species of willowherb, native to the California foothills and coastal areas. It is a perennial plant, notable for the profusion of bright scarlet flowers in summer and autumn - it's usually the only native California plant in an area flowering at the height of summer. They tend to die back and go dormant in the winter. Other common names include California-fuchsia (from the resemblance of the flowers to those of Fuchsias), Hummingbird Flower, and Hummingbird Trumpet (the flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds). Epilobium canum is often found by seasonal creeks, seeps and spring, particularly in the drier southern part of it's range.

California Fuchsia is easy to grow. It does best and will flower most profusely in full sun. In the wetter, northern part of it's range or near the coast, this plant will typically require no supplemental water after established. In the drier, hotter, inland southern areas, it will often die without summer water unless planted close to an irrigated or other wet area. You can water it 1x/month without much danger. Plants tend to get straggly after flowering by late fall or early winter. Best to cut them back to the ground as soon as the flowers are spent, and they'll come back back lush and healthy in the spring. Otherwise, they'll look straggly and unhealthy the next year, and are more likely to die. This plant will readily self-seed, so once you get this species established, it will usually start springing up around your garden. It also spreads by rhizomes. There's probably no better California native plant for attracting hummingbirds.

This plant is on several fire resistant plant lists, including FireSafe Marin and County of San Diego.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Perennial herb

Size

0.25 - 1.5 ft tall
2-3 ft wide

Form

Spreading

Growth Rate

Fast

Dormancy

Winter Semi-Deciduous

Fragrance

None

Flower Color

Red

Flowering Season

Summer, Fall

Wildlife Supported

Hummingbirds
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 15 likely * ) SHOW ALL

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Black-Banded Carpet Antepirrhoe semiatrataAntepirrhoe semiatrata

Elegant Aristotelia Moth Aristotelia elegantellaAristotelia elegantella

Yellow-Banded Day Sphinx Proserpinus flavofasciataProserpinus flavofasciata

Ornate Moth Utetheisa ornatrixUtetheisa ornatrix

Clark's Day Sphinx Moth Proserpinus clarkiaeProserpinus clarkiae

Double-Banded Carpet Spargania magnoliataSpargania magnoliata

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture

Very Low, Low

Summer Irrigation

Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 85

Ease of Care

Very Easy, Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 0° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

Tolerates clay and sand. Tolerates Serpentine Soil. Soil PH: 6.0 - 8.0

Common uses

Groundcovers, Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Hummingbird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens

Companion Plants

Milkweed (Asclepias species), Giant Wild Rye (Elymus condensatus), Sand Aster (Corethrogyne filaginifolia), Sagebrush (Artemisia californica), Monkeyflower (Mimulus species), Encelia californica, Buckwheat (Eriogonum species), Heartleaf Keckiella (Keckiella cordifolia), Penstemon species, Salvia species, Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)

Maintenance

Cut or mow to base in fall or early winter to stimulate for new growth. Unwanted rhizomes can be pulled at any time.

Propagation?

Self-seeds readily. Rhizomes can be transplanted in winter or spring.

Natural Setting

Site Type

This species is found in a number of natural settings over a large part of the state. Near the coast it is found on slopes, bluffs or canyons as part of chaparral or coastal sage scrub. In more inland areas including the Sierras it is found in slightly damper slopes and flats, often near seasonal creeks, often as part of pine or fir forest.

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 2.7" - 124.0", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 4.46", Coldest Month: 19.7" - 59.6", Hottest Month: 41.1" - 88.1", Humidity: 0.28" - 40.93", Elevation: -714" - 12228"

Alternative Names

Botanical Names: Zauschneria californica,Zauschneria canum
Common Names: Hummingbird Trumpet

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

California Fuchsia

Epilobium canum

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California FuchsiaEpilobium canum

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California Fuchsia

Epilobium canum