Lukas had both the dwarf and the regular varieties the last time I was there, and they were kind of mixed up together, so it was easy to get confused on which was which. I don't like the dwarf one nearly as much. Firebush (hamelia patens) does well when pruned severely from time to time. If yours looks ratty, you might try cutting it back and letting it put out new, unblemished growth and see how it does. They will get 10 to 12 feet tall when they are happy, but it isn't necessary for them to get that big. You can keep them at a size that works for you, and still get plenty of bloom. I'd say cut it back, since it looks bad anyway. Good luck! Marcia

"Another choice might be the native version: Euonymus atropurpureus." The Wahoo look absolutely amazing outside my office window right now. The common name is too good not to use. It's a large municipal planting of Wahoo, Maple Leaved Viburnum and Arrowwood. Incredible planting for fall color. They inexplicably hack everything back savagely midsummer every year. Whoever put them in obviously knew what they were doing but they must have moved on. I wonder how beautiful they might be if they got better treatment. Some individual photo's I scrounged on the web of the plants in question. Arrowwood Maple-Leaved Viburnum Eastern Wahoo

I'm glad you asked what a "firebush" is because, as I went to look it up to post a link, I realized that what I have is NOT a firebush at all (tho, that's what I've called it ever since I was little). It's really a type of euonymus that other people call "burning bush". Firebush, it turns out, is a completely different type of plant. I wonder how many other plants I just use the totally wrong name for?!?!? Anyway, I do want to shape the bush and rein it in a bit...it's getting very large. I think I'll try trimming it back and see how it goes. Patty, do you love the classes you're taking?!? I bet they are fun and interesting. How's your garden? Did you start it up yet for the Spring? It's raining today but, yesterday I used muscles that I haven't really used since last Fall and today, I'm feeling it. My garden really needs some hard work...it's getting out of hand! Here is a link that might be useful: Burning Bush (not firebush)

Hello, fairly novice gardener here. I've got an issue with a hamelia patens i recently acquired. I re-potted it (and gave it a good soaking) after letting it sit in it's new spot for a day, and the roots were so compacted i had trouble breaking them up. It started to wilt and droop (both leaves and flowers) after re-potting, so after some reading i realised i probably hadn't broken the roots up enough, so i dug it out and took some secateurs to the roots, put it back in the pot, gave it some seaweed solution, and it perked up! For about a day and now it looks sad and droopy again. It's in a terracotta pot, gets plenty of sun and it's nice and warm at the moment. I'm thinking it might be over-watered (bottom leaves are dry, no brown ends on the leaves) as i watered it twice in two days when i was repotting and the soil is moist about 2 inches underneath the top soil, but it's been a few days since i touched it and it isn't looking any better. Can anyone help? I really like this plant and it's stressing me out to know that I'm not doing a good job looking after it. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.