Family Cistaceae.
Originating from the Mediterranean.
Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
- Evergreen shrub with grey-green foliage forms a low, carpeting mat.
- Orange-red flowers bloom spring to summer.
- Thrives in well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil, full sun, ideal for rockeries.
Fire Dragon’s delicate papery orange-red flowers bloom spring to summer in profusion. Its dainty petals surround a central cluster of golden stamens, making a blisteringly hot colour combination. The dense grey-green foliage is minutely hairy, making soft, tactile 20cm-high mounds. It is ideal for raised planting positions such as Mediterranean-style rockeries, eventually spreading to 50cm wide.
It makes an impressive spread, unmissable for any passing pollinator and worthy of viewing close up. Enjoy its delicately soft texture and refined flowers from the comfort of an outdoor sofa, as it drapes from contemporary raised beds.
Alternatively, set its riot of colour free to ramble in sunny Suffolk gravel gardens or traditional English borders. Drought-tolerant when established and suited to maritime climates, it is perfect for pot planting on North Norfolk’s seaside terraces.
Care Tips for Helianthemum ‘Fire Dragon’ Rockery Plants
- Soil and Sun: Prefers well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil; full sun for best blooms.
- Planting: Plant in spring or summer, water regularly in its first season. Ensure sharp drainage.
- Watering: Water regularly in first season; drought-tolerant once established, avoid waterlogging.
- Pruning: Trim lightly after flowering to limit spread and keep compact, but best left to spread; avoid hard pruning.
Fire Dragon’s intense, long, and profuse flowering season, its evergreen foliage, and adaptability to different garden styles make it indispensable. Suitable for any sun-drenched UK garden, its low-maintenance brilliance ignites Norfolk Suffolk borders, contemporary rockeries, or traditional beds, delivering pollinator-friendly colour and texture herd.
Planting Suggestions for Helianthemum ‘Fire Dragon’
Turn up the heat and sizzle your garden’s sunny spots. Add this rock rose to other burning perennials and fiery Mediterranean shrubs for a scorching summer display. Callistemon citrinus ‘Splendens’, ‘Packer’s Selection’, ‘Mauve Mist’, and ‘Perth Pink’ make a wild backdrop. Hemerocallis ‘Frans Hals’, ‘Crimson Pirate’, ‘Bonanza’, and ‘Dominic’ and their smouldering blooms at mid level.
Add low-level companions for the Fire Dragon to expand the carpet of hot colour, in front-of-border positions and surrounding the above suggestions. Carpobrotus edulis, Delosperma sutherlandii and congestum, Lampranthus ‘Tresco Brilliant’, and ‘Yellow Flowered’ extend the incendiary spread.
