This perennial is also known as burning bush for the highly flammable oil it produces.
It does well in northern climates with cool nights and tolerates light shade.
Gas plants like to be left alone to grow, and dont like to be disturbed once planted.
Credit: Susan Gilmore
The pink varieties often feature darker or red colors along the veins, creating feather-like patterns.
Another common name for the gas plant is burning bush.
Both names refer to the highly flammable oil produced by the plant.
Credit: Susan Gilmore
This oil can volatilize and create a gas around the plant on hot, windless days.
The gas plant can also spontaneously burst into flames on very hot, dry days.
For the most vigorous flowering, place your gas plant infull sun.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
It can tolerate some shade, especially in warmer climates.
Temperature and Humidity
The best climate for gas plant is warm days with cooler nights.
In warmer climates, especially during droughts, the plant may go dormant and return once temperatures fall.
Credit: Bob Stefko
For the amount to use, follow product label instructions.
Flowers should bloom from late spring to early summer and after that, pretty seed heads will emerge.
These seed heads provide ornamental interest to the plant andif left untoucheda food resource for visiting birds.
Credit: Dean Schoeppner
Slugsand snails, in particular, are fond of young gas plantsespecially new shoots and leaves.
It forms woody roots and does not tolerate transplanting or root disturbance.
Because of this, gas plants should be sowed from seed as opposed to division or cuttings.
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
Be sure to keep the soil consistently moist, but not soaked.
After that, put the bag into the refrigerator for another 4 to 6 weeks.
Do not store the seeds any longer or they may fail to germinate.
Keep the substrate consistently and evenly moist until germinationwhich may take 6 months to a year.
As with all forms of gas plant, it is slow to establish.
The foliage is usually dark green and remains good-looking all season long.
These are hardly fussy plants.
Where well suited to the climate, they can thrive on zero care.
The falls may be “bearded” or not.
Some cultivars bloom a second time in late summer.
Zones 3-9
Daylily
Dayliliesare so easy to growyou’ll often find them growing in ditches and fields.
And yet they look so delicate, producing trumpet-shaped blooms in myriad colors.
The flowers are borne on leafless stems.
The strappy foliage may be evergreen or deciduous.
Zones 3-10
Frequently Asked Questions
Flowers of the gas plant have a lovely fragrance with citrusy overtones.
Its glossy compound leaves in a rich green color release a lemony fragrance when crushed or bruised.
Gas plant (Dictamnus Albus) phytophotodermatitis simulating Poison ivy.
Canadian Medical Association journal.
