Name:  Bidens Campfire^™ Fireburst (aka Bidens hybrid ‘KOIBID1346’)

Type of Plant: This is a long-flowering annual from Proven Winners that has small, bright orange and yellow daisy-like flowers.

Why I love this: The folks at PW sent me this plant to try last year and I decided that pairing it with purple was going to be a winning combination. I planted it in a purple pot with a dark-foliage dracaena, and placed the container in the full sun on my deck. From first planting to fall, this Bidens pleased me.

Early in the summer it’s simple and sweet, so I planted all three plants in one pot. Soon it grew full and bushy…so full, in fact, that the Bidens covered the Dracaena for a while. That was fine with me because Campfire Fireburst was a blooming machine, with no deadheading. Later it cascaded over the edge of the pot so the Dracaena was in view for the fall. Over the summer the plants grew about 12 to 14 inches tall and wide.

A Word to the Wise: This is a full-sun plant and although it plays well with others in a mixed container, don’t let the delicate appearance fool you early in the spring…it will grow fuller as the summer progresses. It did well in field trials across the country when planted in the ground, so don’t think of this as a container plant only!

In a pot, this annual would be beautiful with any purple-foliaged plant, such as Persian shield, and with any of the yellow-flowering Supertunias. It would also look good mixed in with perennials, especially in gardens that need a pop of color that stands up to the bright, summer sun.

I want you to see the full progression of this plant from late-May to late-September. Here is the shot I took after planting Campfire Fireburst on Memorial Day. Since purple and orange are always a winning combo, I knew that this Bidens would look lovely in this pot.

Here is a picture of the container in mid-July.

And here it is, still flowering its heart out at the very end of September.

This year I’m using this Bidens in the garden in Annual Alley…stay tuned for photos!