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Epilobium canum (California Fuchsia) - This is a dense, sprawling California native which is considered to be a subshrub or a perennial with a woody base. It can grow from 2 to 5 feet tall with gray-green narrow leaves and reddish-orange tubular flowers in the summer and fall.
It performs best in full sun, and is drought tolerant. Can tolerate some summer irrigation in soils that drain well but otherwise keep dry and is cold hardy to below to 5-10 degrees. It is a hummingbird magnet when in bloom
Epilobium canum is primarily distributed in southern and central California growing in coastal areas and the foothills up to 5,000 feet but can be found other western states including Arizona, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico north up into Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming where it is mainly found in arid mountainous areas. While the genus name Epilobium is now considered current, this group of sub-shrubs used to be called Zauschneria and are so different from the other Epilobium, herbaceous plants often called Fireweeds, that many California native plant enthusiast and even the experts often still refer to them by this previous name. This former name Zauschneria was given the genus by the Czechoslovakian naturalist Karel (Charles) Borivoj Presl in 1831 to honor his fellow Czech, Johann Baptista Josef Zauschner (1737–1799), a professor of medicine and amateur botanist. The name Epilobium comes from the Greek word 'epi' meaning "upon" and 'lobium' meaning "a pod" in reference to the flowers being superior, meaning that they sit above the developing seed capsules. The specific epithet means "gray" or "ash colored" in reference to the foliage color. We also have grown several cultivars of this species including Epilobium canum 'Catalina', Epilobium canum 'Diamondback' and Epilobium canum var. latifolium 'Everett's Choice'.
The information displayed on this page about Epilobium canum is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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