The Nature of Things

Firespike in my backyard garden today. Odontonema strictum , popularly called firespike or cardinal guard or scarlet flame, is a showy shrub-like plant that is native to semi-forested areas in Central America, but it will grow happily in USDA Zones 8 - 11. It seems content in my zone 9a garden near Houston. That wasn't always true though. I bought my plant in spring 2012 and at first I had positioned it in full sun, which, according to the planting instructions I read, it should have been able to tolerate. The first year that it grew there, it grew to perhaps two to two-and-a-half feet tall and it did have a few blooms. In the winter, it died back to the ground but came back in the spring; however, it seemed stunted and unhappy and it never bloomed that year. I decided drastic action was needed. It died back to the ground last winter, but in the spring, as soon as I was sure it had survived, I decided to move it to another location. I planted it in a large pot and moved the pot to ...