Fire Pink

Fire Pink - Silene Virginica

Add Fire Pink (Silene Virginica) to Your Garden for a Powerful Pop of Color            

You might spot the lovely Fire Pink (Silene Virginica) plant while walking through eastern U.S. meadows or hiking through the woods. According to the U.S. Forest Service, this member of the carnation family grows wild in eastern states except in the chillier northeast states. Gardeners throughout the country grow Fire Pink in plant beds and as a potted plant.

How to Grow Fire Pink

Native to North America, Fire Pink is a perennial scarlet red wildflower that blooms from April to August. Its showy bevy of blossoms is about one inch to one and a half inches wide. Plants grow to a height of 6 to 24 inches.

Plant Fire Pink, also known as Scarlet Catchfly, in well-draining soil with full sun. It can tolerate partial sun, though. Fire Pink grows well in clay, sandy, or loamy soils, with plants spaced nine to 18 inches apart. When grown outdoors, it thrives in USDA hardiness zones 4 through 9. The plant favors dry to medium-moist environments.

If you grow it in a planter, take care when transplanting it. The Fire Pink features a dense taproot boasting many hairy, fibrous roots. This hearty root helps it thrive in low-precipitation areas.

Silene Virginica Plant Details

Although it draws its common name from its bright blooms, Fire Pink provides gardeners more than a few months of red flowers. When grown in its low-height form that reaches six inches, it affords a gardener luscious ground cover in fern green or jungle green.

This plant sprouts one- to four-inch-long basal leaves with stem leaves that grow up to six inches long. Stem leaves grow in pairs opposite one another, sprouting between two and eight pairs per stem. In its taller two-foot height, Fire Pink bushes out, making it an ideal garden bed border plant. If you have a vast space to fill, some gardeners use Fire Pink as a cover planting for meadows.

The Many Benefits of Planting Fire Pink

Growing Fire Pink provides numerous benefits, making this wildflower a shoo-in for any eastern garden. This vibrant native flower is a drought-tolerant garden option and proves that xeriscaping doesn't have to look boring. Once established, Fire Pink is plucky.

Its bright scarlet blossoms attract hummingbirds, while the tubular, nectar-rich flowers attract butterflies and bees. A row or bed of Fire Pink adds more than color to the garden; it attracts positive wildlife that pollinates other plants.

If you use this process, save the plant seeds for the coming year.

After flowering, Fire Pink plant pods turn brown. When they do, collect the pods and store them in a brown paper bag for one week. After they've aged, remove the seeds and store them. Place a kitchen strainer on top of a paper plate and then pop the pods over the strainer. As they fall, the strainer separates the seeds from the debris for you. Store the seeds in an envelope for one to two years.

You don't have to hike the eastern forests and meadows to take a cutting of this gorgeous pollinator. Most U.S. plant nurseries sell. This member of the carnation family grows well from established plants or seeds.

Take Advantage of Fire Pink for Your Garden

Fire Pink offers so many benefits with no negatives that it's a wonder it doesn't populate every eastern U.S. garden. Once established, this drought-resistant, vivacious flower provides spring and summer color plus a bush-like mound of greenery year-round. Pests dislike it, and it doesn't develop diseases. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees flock to it, so any garden featuring it benefits from these pollinators, too. Add Fire Pink to your garden for a splash of color and vibrant ground cover.

Fire pink ships as a rooted plug.