Cuphea is brilliant for adding a pop of understated color in low-maintenance garden designs. Varieties of Cuphea include firecracker plant, Mexican heather, and lipstick plant, which are native to parts of the Southern United States, Mexico, and Central America. This woody subshrub grows quickly to a mature size in one season and makes a great low-growing hedge to define a garden border. It also provides striking contrast in a container planting for your deck or patio.
Cuphea is adaptable and will grow well with other plants in most home gardens. It requires well-draining soil, preferably with a neutral pH. Full sun to partial shade is acceptable, although plants will grow denser and bloom better in full sun. Deadheading and pruning for shape are rarely required, as cuphea is truly a self-cleaning plant. This tender perennial will grow year after year in USDA zones 9-12, or until the first fall frost in the lower growing zones.
Shrubs To Plant With Cuphea
The relaxed shape and profuse flowering of Cuphea make it a good complement for shrubs with an open form. Silvery-leaved Mediterranean shrubs like lavender, rosemary, artemisia, olive trees, germander, and curry plants contrast wonderfully with the bright Cuphea flowers. These plants all grow well together in a hot, sunny site. Other more typical garden shrubs like hydrangea, dwarf conifers, camelia, Japanese privet, and mountain laurel can be used as a green backdrop for Cuphea.
Perennials To Plant With Cuphea
Herbaceous and woody perennials that thrive in full to part sun and well-draining soil make ideal companions for Cuphea. Larger plants such as Russian sage, tall ornamental grasses, crocosmia, and Siberian iris make a lovely backdrop to the more compact and mounded shape of Cuphea. Plants with a loose blooming habit like Shasta daisy, gaura, coneflower, and hardy salvia share Cuphea’s laid-back appearance and enliven a pollinator or cutting garden area. For a waterwise groundcover near Cuphea, consider planting sedum, clumping small ornamental grasses, and colorful yarrow.
Annuals To Plant With Cuphea
Tender perennials grown as annuals are natural partners for Cuphea. Often they thrive in full sun and hot temperatures and are easy to grow indoors over the winter as a houseplant. For bold color, consider nemesia, diascia, flowering maple, and mandevilla, which are widely available for all growing zones. True annuals like cosmos, cleome, coleus, gomphrena, and bachelor’s buttons also grow well alongside Cupea and encourage pollinators to the garden while providing color through the fall.
Best Companion Plants For Cuphea in Containers
Cuphea is an ideal container plant. It is capable of growing in full or part shade and has relatively shallow roots that do not compete with close container mates. The smaller growing Mexican heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia) works as a filler plant and can be mixed with canna or colocasia as a thriller and dichondra or vinca vine as a spiller. Firecracker and lipstick Cupheas make fantastic late-season thriller plants that combine bright and fiery reds, oranges, and yellows. Add creeping zinnia, trailing verbena, or lantana, which will fill in any spots left from early season bloomers that may have overstayed their welcome.
Plants Not To Grow With Cuphea
Plants that prefer to grow in boggy or submerged soils, like cattails, water lilies, flag iris, and rush reeds, do not make good companions for Cuphea in either a container or a garden bed. These plants require more moisture than Cuphea can tolerate. Cuphea may also struggle near true xeric plants like cacti, aloes, or yuccas, which prefer drier conditions than Cuphea.
Best Plants To Grow Cuphea
Ultimately, Cuphea grows easily alongside other plants that prefer well-draining soil, moderate moisture, and full sun. Grow it with other tender perennials such as nemesia, flowering maple, and mandevilla to create a tropical atmosphere, or combine it with power perennials like gaura, coneflower, and salvia for a pollinator garden. Outside its hardiness range, Cuphea makes a stunning container specimen that can be overwintered indoors.
Sources: “Cigar Plants Light Up Container Gardens.” Iowa State University Extension. extension.iastate.edu