Fusion of Fire Mukdenia - 20-Cell Plug Tray

Fusion of Fire is a hybrid shade perennial grown mostly for its big, bold leaves, which can reach more than a foot across. The notched, maple-like foliage emerges green and turns fiery red in fall, and sprays of blush-pink flowers rise above it in early to mid spring.

It flowers more heavily and grows more vigorously than a typical mukdenia while staying about 12 to 14 inches tall. Use it as a specimen or edging plant in a woodland garden or a shady patio container where the leaves can be seen up close.

What it looks like

Leaves are very large, often more than 12 inches wide, rounded and palmately lobed like a maple, with deeply notched, toothed edges and a slightly glossy, medium green surface. In fall the foliage turns bright scarlet red. In early spring, loose, branched sprays of small, star-shaped, blush-pink to white flowers rise on reddish stems just above the emerging leaves. The plant forms a low, broad mound about 12 to 14 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide. At peak foliage season it reads as a clump of bold, overlapping lobed leaves.

Growing it with lavender

Fusion of Fire wants shade and steady moisture, so it belongs in a woodland bed or a shaded corner by the house rather than out in the sunny lavender rows.

Care

Grow in part to full shade, ideally with filtered sun or shelter from afternoon sun, in average soil kept evenly moist. Hardy in zones 5-8. It grows slowly, so give it time to size up, and remove old leaves in early spring before the flowers appear.

At a glance

• Botanical name: × Oredenia
• Flower color: Blush pink
• Foliage: Medium green, turning scarlet red in fall
• Growth habit: Low, broad mound
• Mature size: 12–14 in tall × 18–24 in wide
• USDA hardiness zones: 5–8
• Light: part sun to part shade, full shade
• Bloom start: Early-April
• Peak bloom: Late-April
• Bloom pattern: Single Flush
• Deer resistance: Moderately resistant
• Pollinator value: Fair

Sizes and shipping

One full 20-cell plug tray: 20 large, field-ready plugs of this variety (cells about 2¾ in. wide × 3¼ in. deep or deeper), ready to plant out or pot up. Potted plants and plug trays ship during our live-plant seasons, March 1–May 31 and October 1–November 30; June through September is local pickup only. Plugs, potted plants and trays do not ship to AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, UT or WA.