Get your sunglasses, because this is one bright plant!  The Marmalade Bush (Streptosolen jamesonii) is a rare tropical that's smothered in cheerful flowers throughout the year.  The inch-long, trumpet-shaped blooms have a range of brilliant colors from yellow to orange to red.  This hard-to-find ornamental happens to be easy to grow, reaching 6 feet or more if left unpruned.  Also known as the Fire Bush, the Marmalade Bush looks so yummy, you'll almost want to spread it on your toast!

The Marmalade Bush is an evergreen, perennial plant from South America.  It has a spreading habit and can be allowed to spill over a wall or hanging planter, or pruned to a neat, upright shape.  Even without blooms it is an attractive plant, with glossy, bright green foliage with a ribbed appearance.  The flowers appear almost all year here in San Francisco, with the heaviest show from spring through fall.  The 5-petaled blooms start out yellow or light-orange when young, and then deepen to a darker-orange and red as they mature.

Marmalade Bush comes from the mountains of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.  It can probably only handle 1 or 2 degrees of frost, so it will need to be brought indoors in colder areas.  I have no information on how much heat it can take, but there are scattered reports of it growing in Florida and Texas.  It is easily grown in a pot in ordinary potting soil.  It likes mostly-sunny conditions, and regular watering.  Over 40% humidity is recommended.  By the way, in case you're tempted to taste to the flowers, i don't know if they are edible.  Like its cousin the Brugmansia, it may contain a toxin.

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