Hi,I have a firebush plant to trade.Growing in a 4 inch pot.Prefer some of my wants or something similar to my wants.Debbie

The only thing I have for trade is variegated Solomon seal. Will this do? Will this plant survive in zone 7?

Thank you everyone for your research links. From (in 2007) http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/News columns/Firebush.htm : "The Florida native Firebush Hamelia patens (left) has orange-red flowers and hairy leaves, while the non-native form, Hamelia patens var. glabra (R) has yellowish flowers and smooth leaf texture." and "Some Firebush plants have a more compact habit. Unfortunately, no one has been able to reliably determine the origin of plants being sold as Hamelia patens 'Dwarf' or 'Compacta.' There is also a new cultivar of Hamelia patens called 'Firefly' with leaves and flowers about half the normal size." I've just been outside licking the leaves (just washed by rain) of the various firebushes I have planted and the new "red" ones. All of them have rough leaf tops which, I assume, means "hairy" and therefore native. I had not noticed before that one of my planted ones is red, while the one next to is red/orange. No "yellow = non-natives", hooray, I guess. The leaves of the squat new red ones are slightly bent upward like the ones in the above link's photo) or at least, not flat like all my older ones. I'm calling it the "cultivar Firefly" but I'm open to correction. I hope I'm not adding misinformation to the collected wisdom.

I think it is a great plant as well, the zebras love it also. I think this is a plant that seems to get mislabeled. I have 3 distinct varieties, none of which are over 6 feet tall. I have the one they call "African", which has yellow flowers and I'm not sure that should really be H. patens. I have another that was bought as a "dwarf" and a 3rd that popped up on it's own that has much darker and larger leaves than the other 2. I would consider it a totally maintenance free plant. It keeps a nice shape all on it's own and it only needs what nature gives it for water. But you need a good 6x6 area for it.