Common Name: standing cypress
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Polemoniaceae
Native Range: Southeastern United States
Zone: 6 to 9
Height: 2.00 to 5.00 feet
Spread: 1.50 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to August
Bloom Description: Red w/ yellow inside
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Annual, Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Attracts: Hummingbirds
Tolerate: Deer, Drought
Culture
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soil in full sun. Tolerates some light shade. Freely self-seeds in optimum growing conditions. A biennial which will not bloom until the second year if grown from seed, but which, once established, will remain in the garden for many years through self-seeding in somewhat the same manner as hollyhocks and foxgloves. Not reliably winter hardy throughout USDA Zone 5.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Ipomopsis rubra, a member of the phlox family, is an erect biennial or short-lived perennial which is native to the southeastern U.S. Features narrow, unbranched, leafy stems (2-6' tall) which are topped in summer with narrow, spike-like panicles of red tubular flowers. Each flower has a narrow corolla tube (to 1" long) which flares at the end to form a five-lobed star. Flowers are scarlet red on the outside and yellow dotted with red on the inside. Finely divided, feathery, pinnate leaves (to 1" long) with thread-like segments. Has acquired a large number of regional common names including standing cypress, scarlet gilia, red gilia, Texas plume, flame flower, Indian plume and Spanish larkspur. Synonymous with and sometimes sold as Gilia rubra.
Genus name comes from the Greek ipo meaning to strike and opsis meaning appearance for the showy flowers.
Specific epithet means red.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Mass in sunny borders, cottage gardens, wild gardens, native plant gardens or naturalized areas.