Fire Pink
Silene virginica
True stop-sign red stars that seem to light shaded woodlands, blooming just when hummingbirds need nectar. For lean, rocky, drained soil.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Hummingbird-red flowers in the shade garden. one of the only native perennials that delivers that intense color in low-light conditions.
Fire Pink earns every word of its name: the flowers are a true, vivid, stop-sign red with five deeply notched petals arranged like a star, carried on loosely branching stems above a low rosette of sticky, lance-shaped leaves. The red is intense enough to catch your eye from across the garden, and in a shaded woodland setting it seems to generate its own light. It blooms from late spring into midsummer, precisely the window when ruby-throated hummingbirds are most active and most in need of nectar sources in the woodland understory. Available fall-planted (as noted), Fire Pink establishes best when set out in early fall and allowed to develop roots before winter. It's a rosette-forming perennial that thrives in rocky, thin, well-drained soils in dappled shade, exactly the conditions of a Virginia woodland edge. It's not a long-lived perennial in rich, moist garden conditions, but in lean, rocky soil with good drainage it persists for years and self-seeds modestly to maintain the colony. A natural companion to bleeding heart, columbine, and native ferns.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown fire pink propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Part sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 1–2 ft · 8–14 in wide
- Bloom time
- Late spring, midsummer
- Bloom color
- Red
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Caryophyllaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from New York south to Georgia and west to Oklahoma; dry, rocky, open woodlands and woodland edges
Care notes for fire pink.
Part shade to dappled light, dry to average, rocky or thin well-drained soil. Does not tolerate wet, heavy clay or rich garden soil. Mulch lightly or not at all in loose, sandy conditions. Self-seeds to replace older plants. allow seedlings to fill gaps. Water in at planting; minimal watering thereafter. Cut spent stems to ground after blooming. Fall-planted stock performs best.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside fire pink.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.