Zauschneria
EPILOBIUM. Fireweeds and California fuchsias. Nearly worldwide. I have enjoyed the company of a giant fireweed, E. angustifolium, on mountain treks and once even offered an alpine perennial, E. obcordatum, for sale (that may happen again). However, the current objects of attention are those we have all known, and which stay in my heart, as Zauschneria–the California fuchsias. These are showy perennials, most of them native to California. They were reclassified with the fireweeds several years ago, and it seems silly to resist the new scheme any further. These plants spread by underground rhizomes, the feature being much more pronounced in some species and individuals than in others. Some have woody, trunk-like bases, while others produce seasonal shoots directly from the ground. The leaves are usually narrow and hairy, thickly clothing the stems. In late summer and fall, they put forth a dazzling display of clustered tubular, usually scarlet blossoms. They are excellent attractors of hummingbirds. Sun, most soils, moderate to little or no watering when established (except as noted). Hardy as noted.
canum ssp. canum. California fuchsia. As now conceived, this subspecies includes what were formerly known as Zauschneria californica, of northern California, and Z. cana, of the south. It is an extremely variable entity, at least in vegetative habit. It may be matting, mounding or shrub-like, though in cultivation most forms spread vigorously by rhizomes. ‘Catalina’, selected by Mike Evans of Tree of Life Nursery, is the showiest of the taller forms yet introduced. It has unusually broad, nearly white leaves and large, brilliant flowers. ‘Cloverdale’ is a prostrate, slightly mounding selection with particularly broad, bright grey leaves and typical flowers. ‘El Tigre’, my own selection from El Tigre Peak on Santa Cruz Island, forms broad, dense mats with small, narrow, greyish green leaves. These form a beautiful foil for the 1½" scarlet blossoms displayed in September and October. ‘Etteri’ is a hybrid probably involving E. septentrionale. It makes low mats with silvery leaves and 1½" scarlet flowers (it should have moderate watering, never going completely dry). ‘Solidarity Pink’ is a loose, billowy plant with pale green leaves and interesting flesh pink flowers. It has an unfortunate tendency to show too many old, dead leaves unless periodically cut to the ground. Our ‘U.C. Hybrid’ is now claimed by the good folks at the U.C. Botanic Garden in Berkeley not to be “the” ‘U.C. Hybrid’, but has been grown and sold that way for so many years that a change hardly seems appropriate. This is a bushy plant with grey green leaves, often blooming from July to October and bearing large clusters of scarlet 1½” blossoms. ‘Silver Select’, received from the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation, has amazingly bright grey foliage and typical bright red flowers. Hardy to 0-10oF. in most cases, though the southern forms might be a bit more tender.
canum ssp. latifolium . Mountains of California and the Southwest. This is another diverse entity. Sometimes it is encountered as a few sprigs of foliage, poking up only a few inches from the ground. Sometimes it is seen as an 18-24" dome. The plant at hand was once called Zauschneria arizonica and is fairly distinct from most of the California material. It is a robust, semishrubby perennial growing at least 2’ high. The leaves are bright to deep green in this form, and about 2" long. The flowers are typical of the group in their tubular shape and scarlet coloring, but nearly 2" long.
septentrionale. Plants of this species make silvery mounds or mats, otherwise similar to E. canum. ‘Wayne’s Silver’ is the best of a group of seedlings I raised from seeds collected by Wayne Roderick. It makes a tight mound under 1’ tall, with a metallic silver sheen to the leaves, and has large flowers of the usual glowing scarlet. ‘Select Mattole’ was collected in the wild by Ray Collett and Brett Hall. This is a more broadly matting form, just as silvery and producing an abundance of scarlet flowers.