Sundrops 'Fireworks'
Oenothera fruticosa 'Fyrverkeri' · Onagraceae
Red buds open to bright yellow, saucer-shaped flowers on red stems, above leaves tinted bronze. The rosettes turn red in winter.
- Size
- 18 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around sundrops 'Fireworks'
The planner designed this bed around sundrops 'Fireworks' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why sundrops 'Fireworks' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sundrops 'Fireworks' × 3, yellow
- 2 Winter heath × 8, pink
- 3 Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' × 7, red
- 4 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 5, blue
- 5 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 6 Fernleaf peony × 1, red
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 3, purple
- 8 Surprise lily × 8, pink
Why this plant
- The only yellow.
Why here
- Near the front. At 18 in it is the step between blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' (12 in) in front and wild quinine (3½ ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From early June to mid July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With blanket flower 'Arizona Sun', Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' and wild quinine in late June: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Blanket flower 'Arizona Sun' flowers longest, for 17 weeks. The scheme leans cool (pink, blue and purple) and uses yellow and red for warmth, with white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where sundrops 'Fireworks' goes in a border
At 18 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A brighter, more compact form of the native sundrops. Its flowers open by day. It spreads into a mat of rosettes that is easy to thin.
- Bright yellow for early summer
- Cottage borders
- Dry, sunny banks
What to plant with sundrops 'Fireworks'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for seven weeks, from early June.
- Salvia 'May Night': purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for six weeks.
- Shasta daisy 'Snowcap': in flower together for five weeks, from late June.
Questions about sundrops 'Fireworks'
Does sundrops 'Fireworks' need sun or shade?
Sundrops 'Fireworks' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does sundrops 'Fireworks' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does sundrops 'Fireworks' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid June to late July |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Late May to mid July |
| Zone 8 | Late May to mid July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should sundrops 'Fireworks' be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 18 in (45 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sundrops 'Fireworks' plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is sundrops 'Fireworks' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat sundrops 'Fireworks'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will sundrops 'Fireworks' spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by shallow runners into a mat. Easy to pull where it is not wanted.
What flowers after sundrops 'Fireworks'?
Sundrops 'Fireworks' is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Ornamental onion 'Millenium': from mid July to late August, 18 in tall.
What does sundrops 'Fireworks' look like in winter?
Sundrops 'Fireworks' dies down, but leave the stems standing: the seed heads stand through the winter, and songbirds eat the seed. Cut them down in early spring, before the new shoots come.
Is sundrops 'Fireworks' good for bees and butterflies?
Sundrops 'Fireworks' is visited by pollinators, specialist bees, hummingbirds and songbirds.
It is native to the United States (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Oenothera
- Gaura 'Siskiyou Pink' Oenothera lindheimeri 'Siskiyou Pink'
- Gaura 'Whirling Butterflies' Oenothera lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies'
- Missouri evening primrose Oenothera macrocarpa
- Pink evening primrose Oenothera speciosa
- Sundrops Oenothera fruticosa
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 18 in (45 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July; open bowls; yellow
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green, bronze
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Onagraceae
- Comes from
- Eastern North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, specialist bees, hummingbirds, songbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, heat, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.