Flame Acanthus

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii

Flame Acanthus is one of the best examples of a Texas plant that looks delicate but is built for brutal summer conditions. This upright, spreading shrub produces masses of orange-red tubular flowers that are especially attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies, often blooming from summer well into fall.

Native to Texas and the surrounding Southwest, Flame Acanthus is remarkably adaptable to heat, drought, rocky soils, clay, and alkaline conditions. Its stems are less cold hardy than its roots, so the plant may die back after a hard freeze and return vigorously from the roots in spring.

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Height: 3-5 feet, Spread: 3-4 feet

Light: Full sun to partial shade. Full sun generally produces the best flowering, although some afternoon protection is acceptable in extremely hot locations.

Soil: Very adaptable. Performs well in well-drained clay, limestone, caliche*, loam, rocky soil, and sand, including alkaline soils.

Water: Low. Water regularly while establishing; once established, Flame Acanthus is highly drought tolerant.

Heat Tolerance: Excellent.

Cold Tolerance: Moderate above ground, but the roots are much more cold hardy. Stems may freeze back in winter while the roots survive and resprout in spring.

USDA Hardiness and Overwintering: Roots generally hardy to Zone 7; stems are typically perennial from Zones 8–10. If stems die back completely, the plant can be cut back to the ground to allow for new growth in the spring. Perform the "scratch test" on existing stems in early spring to determine if old growth is truly dead. The scratch test just means to scratch away a small area of the bark with your thumnail; a green layer beneath means the branch is still living while brown means that portion is likely dead. 

*Caliche is a hardened mineral-heavy subsoil layer, often leading to a "hardpan" issue in garden beds and agriculture.