Fire pink is native to a wide area in eastern North America, from southern Ontario through western New York state all the way down to the Gulf states. It is not natively present in New England, but this is too beautiful a flower not to add to the Cape Cod garden. The brilliantly red flowers grow on top of stems rising (sometimes high) above the basal leaves. Hummingbirds simply can not resist these little jewels – just the other day they strayed from the hummingbird feeder and visited the fire pink, even though it meant venturing very close to where we were sitting in the yard. Silene virginica does well in a few different light conditions, from sun to light shade in average, but well drained soil. The plant is a tough cookie that can endure heat and drought (likely because it has its native home in the dry open woodlands where such conditions are common). As perennials go, it is rather short-lived (3 years or so) but it readily self-seeds.
Hummingbird magnet, June 2011
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