The Garden Guy: Mexican Flame Vine, A Must-Have Plant for Beauty and Pollinators

By Norman Winter | Horticulturist, Author, Speaker

If you’ve read this column the past few years, you know I put great importance on choosing plants for pollinators around the farm or ranch, home or office. When those plants pack untold beauty, even better. This column aims to put one plant on your must-have list for 2027: the Mexican flame vine.

Names like Mexican Flame and Orange Glow tell you right away that this flower is bold and riveting in color. Add a vine that draws hummingbirds and butterflies and blazes fiery orange, and you have an award-winning plant.

To be honest, I think everyone should grow it for its botanical name alone, Pseudogynoxys chenopodioides. Imagine the look on your neighbors’ faces when they ask, “What’s that gorgeous vine you are growing?” and you tell them.

The Mexican flame vine is a woody tropical vine. Most references say it is cold-hardy in zones 9 and higher, but I have seen many return just fine in zone 8. It is worth every penny even as an annual. As the name suggests, the vine is native to Mexico, and it isn’t picky about soil. I’ve grown it in acid soil fit for azaleas and in soils more reminiscent of the desert. It belongs to the aster, or daisy, family, and you’ll quickly notice the resemblance.

I realize we are at the beginning of fall, but if you start sourcing now or talking to your favorite garden center, you’ll be ready for spring. When you get yours, dig a hole about twice as wide as the root ball and plant at the same depth it was growing in the container. Set the vine next to a structure for support, like a trellis, arbor or pergola. You may have the perfect fence post that could use a Mexican flame vine.

It is a compact vine that reaches only about 10 feet tall, and it tolerates drought once established. You’ll need to do a little training to get it climbing. You’ll also like that pests rarely bother it.

The vine reblooms reliably, and if you need to cut it back a little, it will quickly send out new growth and another round of blooms. That blazing orange screams to be planted with complementary blue flowers. My first choice would be blue salvias like Unplugged So Blue or Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues. If you’re bold and want a native, consider the late-summer-blooming hardy ageratum, known botanically as Conoclinium coelestinum.

Once yours is growing, you’ll notice all sorts of butterflies feasting on the rich nectar. Red admirals, fritillaries, monarchs and yellow sulphurs of all sorts will visit regularly.

Vines give the landscape a vertical dimension, much like hanging a mirror or picture on a wall indoors. The Mexican flame vine will be one of the most dazzling additions to your garden. Start sourcing yours now so you’re ready for spring.

Follow me on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy for more photos and garden inspiration.