PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Pieris (Forest Flame)
Pieris 'Forest Flame'
🌸 Flower
🔁 Perennial
Bright red new shoots in spring that fade through pink and cream to green, plus chains of white lily-of-the-valley flowers. Needs acid soil.
When to plant and care for it
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Flowers
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Pieris (Forest Flame): what it needs
- Light
- Part shade · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water well for the first summer, then in dry spells
- Soil
- Acid (ericaceous), moist soil
- Spacing
- 1.5 m
- Height
- 2 m
- In pots
- Only in large containers
- Feeding
- Ericaceous feed in spring
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 5–8
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant at the same depth as it was in its pot, 1.5 m apart, and firm in.
- 0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In Well
Give a full can of water, then keep moist for the first few weeks while roots establish.
- 7–14 days after “Water In Well”
Mulch Around the Base
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plant, keeping it off the stems.
Every year
- AprilIn Flower
Red shoots and white flowers — take a photo.
- AprilProtect New Shoots
Late frosts scorch the red shoots; cover with fleece on frosty nights.
- MayTrim After Flowering
Snip off faded flowers.
