What's blooming at Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory?
Photo credit: Michael Lemmon
Hamelia Patens
Hamelia Patens, commonly known as “Firebush,” is a tropical shrub that is now blooming at Baltimore’s Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park.
It will brighten any garden with its blazing orange-red flowers and will attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
Almost as striking as the flowers, the leaves will turn a shade of red when planted in direct sunlight.
If pollinated, the flowers will ripen into a small black fruit, a favorite of many insects.
Native to Brazil and Mexico the firebush grows as far north as Florida and can do well in other zones if brought indoors for the winter.
It will not tolerate freezing temperatures.
Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:40 AM | Permalink
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Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
Comments
It's posts like yours that make me want to live in a warmer climate. What a beautiful thing.
And then there is the heat....--Susan
Posted by: commonweeder | July 26, 2010 10:13 AM