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Description
honeysuckle plants in pots Mexican Honeysuckle Phoenix, AZ | Justicia spicigeraPhoenix's Top Shade Tolerant Orange Bloomer Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) is one of the most versatile and colorful shrubs for Phoenix Valley landscapes. Clusters of bright orange tubular flowers bloom nearly year round, lighting up shady spots and sunny borders alike with warm, tropical color. This tough, drought tolerant shrub handles everything from full sun to heavy shade, shrugs off reflected heat, and requires minimal pruning or
Phoenix's Top Shade-Tolerant Orange Bloomer
Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) is one of the most versatile and colorful shrubs for Phoenix Valley landscapes. Clusters of bright orange tubular flowers bloom nearly year-round, lighting up shady spots and sunny borders alike with warm, tropical color. This tough, drought-tolerant shrub handles everything from full sun to heavy shade, shrugs off reflected heat, and requires minimal pruning or maintenance. Whether you're filling a shady north-facing wall in Scottsdale, adding hummingbird appeal to a Chandler courtyard, or softening a Gilbert fence line with year-round color — Mexican Honeysuckle is the reliable, low-fuss shrub that keeps delivering.
Mexican Honeysuckle Plant Details
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Justicia spicigera |
| Common Names | Mexican Honeysuckle, Orange Justicia, Firecracker Bush |
| Mature Height | 2–4 feet |
| Mature Width | 3–5 feet |
| Growth Rate | Moderate to fast — 1–2 feet per year in Phoenix |
| Sun | Full sun to full shade. One of the few shrubs that blooms in heavy shade. |
| Water | Low to moderate once established. Drought-tolerant. |
| USDA Zones | 8–11 (Phoenix is Zone 9b–10a) |
| Soil | Well-draining. Adapts to Arizona caliche and alkaline soils. |
| Foliage | Evergreen — lush green foliage stays full year-round in Phoenix |
| Bloom Color | Bright orange |
| Bloom Season | Year-round in Phoenix (heaviest spring and fall) |
Mexican Honeysuckle Uses in Phoenix Landscapes
Shade Garden Star
Mexican Honeysuckle is one of the very few shrubs that produces vibrant flowers in heavy shade. Plant it under trees, along north-facing walls, or in courtyard gardens that get minimal direct sun. It thrives where most other flowering shrubs struggle — making it essential for shady spots in Tempe, Mesa, and Paradise Valley.
Hummingbird & Pollinator Attraction
The bright orange tubular flowers are a magnet for hummingbirds year-round. Plant 3–5 shrubs along a fence line or around a patio seating area for constant hummingbird activity. Pair with Chuparosa, Firecracker Penstemon, and Yellow Bells for a complete hummingbird habitat.
Informal Hedge & Screen
Mexican Honeysuckle's dense, mounding growth habit makes it an excellent informal hedge or privacy screen at 3–4 feet. Plant 3 feet apart for a continuous green screen with orange blooms. It's especially effective along property lines, pool fences, and courtyard walls in Peoria, Glendale, or Goodyear.
Best Time to Plant Mexican Honeysuckle in Phoenix
Fall (October–November) is ideal — warm soil and cool air promote fast root establishment. Spring (February–April) is the second-best window. Mexican Honeysuckle establishes quickly and usually begins blooming within its first season.
How to Plant Mexican Honeysuckle
- Dig wide, not deep — 2–3x the root ball width, same depth
- Check for caliche — break through any hardpan layer for drainage
- Backfill with native soil — a light 20% organic blend is fine
- Spacing — 3 ft apart for hedge; 4–5 ft for individual specimens
- Water basin — build a 3–4 inch ring to direct water to roots
- Mulch — 2–3 inches of bark or gravel mulch to retain moisture
Watering Mexican Honeysuckle in Phoenix
First Year Watering Schedule
- Weeks 1–2: Every 2–3 days, deep and slow (20–30 min)
- Month 1–2: Every 3–4 days
- Month 3–6: Every 5–7 days
- After Year 1: Every 7–14 days summer; every 2–3 weeks winter
Drip Irrigation
Place one 2 GPH emitter 12–18 inches from the trunk. Mexican Honeysuckle appreciates slightly more water than ultra-xeric natives but is still very drought-tolerant once established.
Does Mexican Honeysuckle bloom in shade?
Yes — it's one of the few shrubs that flowers prolifically in full shade. Blooms may be slightly less dense in deep shade vs. part sun, but it still outperforms nearly every other option for shady spots.
Is Mexican Honeysuckle frost tolerant?
It can handle light frosts down to about 25°F. In unusually cold Phoenix winters, it may lose some foliage but recovers quickly in spring. Established plants are much more frost-hardy than young ones.
Does Mexican Honeysuckle attract hummingbirds?
Absolutely. The tubular orange flowers are a year-round hummingbird favorite — one of the best plants for keeping hummingbirds in your yard through winter when few other plants are blooming.
How big does Mexican Honeysuckle get?
Typically 3–4 feet tall and 3–5 feet wide. It responds well to periodic shaping but looks best when allowed to grow into its natural mounding form.
You May Also Like
- Yellow Bells — Bright yellow trumpet flowers. Stunning warm-color pairing with Mexican Honeysuckle's orange.
- Chuparosa — Another tubular orange bloomer for hummingbirds. Great desert native companion.
- Red Verbena — Low red groundcover to plant in front of Mexican Honeysuckle for layered color.
- Russian Sage — Cool lavender-blue contrast behind Mexican Honeysuckle's warm orange tones.
How Many Mexican Honeysuckle Do I Need?
With a mature width of 3 to 5 feet, space plants about 3.5 feet on center for a continuous informal hedge or shaded screen. Use the table below to estimate plant counts by run length.
| Hedge Run Length | Plants Needed (3.5 ft spacing) |
|---|---|
| 10 ft | 3 plants |
| 20 ft | 6 plants |
| 30 ft | 9 plants |
| 40 ft | 12 plants |
| 50 ft | 15 plants |
For a shade-garden mass or hummingbird drift, plant in odd-numbered groups of 3 to 5, spaced 3 to 4 feet apart. As a single accent in a courtyard or against a north wall, give each plant a 4 to 5 foot clear footprint.
Mexican Honeysuckle Season-by-Season in Phoenix
- Spring (Feb–Apr): Heaviest bloom flush of the year as days warm. Prime second planting window and the best time for a light shaping if needed.
- Summer (May–Sep): Keeps blooming through extreme heat, including in reflected-heat spots most flowering shrubs cannot take. In deep shade it stays lush and cool. Monsoon humidity (Jul–Sep) often triggers a fresh flush of orange.
- Fall (Oct–Nov): Prime planting season and a second strong bloom peak as temperatures ease. Roots establish fast in warm fall soil.
- Winter (Dec–Jan): Stays evergreen and often keeps blooming, feeding hummingbirds when little else flowers. It handles light frost to about 25°F but can drop foliage in a hard Valley freeze. Cover young plants on nights below 28°F; established plants recover quickly in spring.
At a Glance
✔ Hummingbird-Friendly ✔ Pollinator-Friendly ✔ Heat-Loving (Reflected-Heat Tolerant) ✔ Drought-Tolerant ✔ Evergreen ✔ Low-Maintenance ✔ Shade-Providing ✔ Cold-Hardy to 25°F
Plant It With
- Chuparosa: another tubular orange bloomer that keeps hummingbirds working both plants.
- Arizona Yellow Bells: bright yellow trumpets for a warm orange-and-gold color pairing.
- Firecracker Bush: red-orange tubular flowers that extend the hummingbird habitat.
- Desert Ruellia: cool purple flowers that contrast the warm orange tones in a low border.
Is Mexican Honeysuckle Right for Your Yard?
Mexican Honeysuckle is one of the rare shrubs that thrives in everything from full reflected-heat sun to deep shade, making it ideal for north walls, under-tree beds, and shaded courtyards in caliche soil that drains. Give it room for a 3 to 5 foot spread and it rewards you with near year-round orange color and steady hummingbird traffic. It is not the best fit if you want a crisp, tightly sheared formal hedge or need a plant that takes a hard Valley freeze with zero foliage loss.
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4.2 ★★★★★
Based on 18 reviews
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
Great couple!
Format: Kindle
This is my second read of this story. And I loved it then, and I loved it now. Tucker is super sweet but also sexy steamy. Sabrina is independent and feisty. But I loved how they brought out the others non dominant sides. They had great chemistry and although it wanted to shake Sabrina at times lol, Tucker is totally patient and such a great book boyfriend!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2026
★★★★★ 4
LOVED Tucker!!
Format: Kindle
4 stars — I was actually most looking forward to Tucker’s story, and while I loved it, it didn’t end up being my favourite. Weird how that works right?
Now as I fully anticipated, I LOVED Tucker. Like LOVE LOVED him. He was everything I was hoping for and more. I adored how he was this delicious blend of sweet, caring, genuinely good guy mixed with a delightfully dirty mind. I think that was the part that surprised me, though I’m not sure why. But damn, that boy had it going on!! And yet he was still so gentlemanly…god, I love that mix. And he was so freaking patient! Like, I couldn’t even believe it sometimes. He was almost too patient on occasion, b/c he wouldn’t push Sabrina at all, and maybe she needed a little push. But I loved how he could see through Sabrina’s bullcrap to the heart of her. And I loved how he didn’t let the curveballs throw him off his path, he stayed true to himself and wouldn’t make choices that he couldn’t be happy with when it came to his life.
While I wasn’t surprised that I loved Tucker, I will admit that I was surprised I loved Sabrina too. I loved how driven she was, and how she put on that persona of being a witch with a b to keep people away, but underneath she was extremely vulnerable. I also thought that Ms. Kennedy did a great job of showcasing the challenges of poverty through her situation. She desperately wanted a better life, and she thought she knew exactly what that better life would look like. While both Sabrina and Tucker aggravated me with their stubbornness and wrong assumptions (it’s not my favourite trope), she took a bit longer than I wanted to figure stuff out. It’s not that I didn’t get that her family life and childhood damaged her, but she was being an idiot and I was sad that none of her friends woke her up. Another thing that bugged me was that, in my opinion, she was seriously emotionally abused, and I kind of wished that that had been addressed at some point. Her Nana was, quite frankly, awful to her, and her love felt very conditional. And the way Sabrina would excuse Ray’s behavior…well, I just wish that someone had told her that that’s not normal, and gotten her some guidance.
Tucker and Sabrina were interesting together. Obviously they had amazing chemistry, and there were so many sweet moments that I just loved. But their relationship was a bit dysfunctional, and I felt like I needed a bit more near the end when things changed. I just would have appreciated learning a bit more about their motivations, or seeing more frank discussions between the two of them…it just felt like I didn’t understand why this time it was different, you know?
The plot in this one flowed a bit differently for me, especially the second half. It just didn’t feel like the usual narrative structure I’m used to, with the build up to a conflict and climax. As I said, I kept waiting for the turnaround, but it just kind of snuck in there with a lot of little ups and downs.
And can I also say that I hated the way Tucker’s Mom behaved? She was truly awful, and I’m not sure I ever fully understood her motivations, or what she was like, or how Tucker became who he was with that kind of mother.
On the completely other side of it, I loved seeing the group interact again. I really love all those boys and the girls they fell in love with. I also really appreciated that Dean and Sabrina worked things out, but weren’t all buddy buddy. And as for other secondary characters, I loved Sabrina’s friends and seeing a bit more of some of the other hockey boys. I’m so excited to know we’ll be getting a bit more of some of them.
So yeah, so much goodness in this one, just a few little niggles that made it not the hit out of the park I was expecting. But a seriously great end to a fantastic sports romance series.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2018
★★★★★ 3
John Tucker made this book
Format: Kindle
The Goal (Off Campus #4) by Elle Kennedy
3 stars!!
“I’m not the girl for John Tucker, and I never will be.”
After the bomb was dropped at the end of The Score I was more than eager for John Tucker’s story, he was a character that had always blended into the background and we never really got to know him throughout the other books in this series, but as they say, the quiet ones are often the worst.
However, John Tucker was adorable in every sense of the word. He really surprised me in The Goal. He was one of the most loyal and loving guys out of all of them and had the patience of a saint to back it up and with Sabrina James he certainly needed it. But also, Tucker was as sexy as hell and had a filthy mouth, I never would have guessed it. For some godforsaken reason Tucker loved Sabrina, whereas some guys would have given up and run for the hills, Tucker was glutton for punishment, he took the punches, he took the rejection, but would he get a happy ever after?
“Even if you hadn’t said you loved me back, I’d take whatever scraps you were willing to give me as long as I could be with you. I don’t give a s**t if that makes me pathetic-”
Sabrina James, she was one cool customer who I just couldn’t warm up to. I admired her drive and determination, her focus on bettering herself but her treatment of Tucker just wound me up no end. She was the puppet master and she definitely pulled all the strings and led our Tucker on a merry dance. Her coolness and aloofness throughout just grated on my every last nerve. If Tucker was insincere I could understand it, but she knew deep down that she held Tucker’s heart in her hands and had no qualms about toying with his emotions.
“It doesn’t matter how thin or thick anyone’s wallet is. We all hurt. We all love. We’re the same. And your past, who you live with, where you came from, it doesn’t have to matter. You’re creating your own future, and I want to see where the road forward takes you.”
For me though, my biggest gripe with this book was pacing. This story runs parallel with The Score and so a chunk of the plot line was repetitive. I just felt that as situations were rehashed through someone else’s eyes it lost its impact and for me interrupted my reading mojo. If you are reading this as a standalone and have not read The Score, then this shouldn’t be an issue. The first half of the book was particularly slow for me, however, as everything hots up in the second half it pulled me back in.
“My goal, once upon a time, was to succeed. I didn’t realize that success wasn’t grades or scholarships or achievements, but the people I was lucky enough to have in my life.”
My heart definitely belonged to John Tucker in this book, this guy had a heart of gold, was the most loving and giving, he gave Sabrina everything she wanted and needed and yet she still kept him at arm’s length. He was forever trying to bore little holes into her life and heart to inch that little bit forward but she was an emotional fortress, it all seemed a little one sided. They get there in the end but she was definitely a tough nut to crack.
“I can’t make a single decision. Not until Sabrina makes the most important one of all.”
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Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2016
★★★★★ 5
Astonishing, Fun, Entertaining, Fantastic
Format: Kindle
I consider The Martian my favorite fictional novel of the last 15-20 years. The movie was incredible in that they actually followed the book closer than 99% of other films based on books. It remains my favorite movie of the last 15 years or so as well. I don't know anyone (personally) that loves either of them as much as I do.
With that said, I was REALLY looking forward to Artemis. It was good...but, it was certainly not in the same caliber as The Martian was (at least not for me). I enjoyed it a lot, however and appreciated how author Andy Weir chose to go in a completely different direction and not just rehash another similar story, which I am certain would have been great as well.
As a result, I was cautious regarding Project Hail Mary. It sounded a little too close to The Martian, but yet, also different in that the circumstances simply could not be more opposite and the stakes so much higher. I'm trying to figure out the best way to summarize without giving too much away from this utterly compelling novel. As I read several reviews, I noticed a recurring theme: SCIENCE. Lots and LOTS of science. Holy cow, they were right. Many years ago I read Apollo 13 and Jim Lovell and his co-writer, try as they might, simply could not dumb down Orbital Mechanics anywhere near enough for me to have even a minor clue as to what they were attempting to say...I just skipped 90% of it and hoped that the sentences written afterwards, would help to make sense of what I had just skimmed over. I'm a lot of things, but a math wizard is definitely not one of them. Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park) had an amazing talent for dumbing-down the science of what he was trying to explain in ways that genuinely made sense (most of the time). Not everyone has this talent, and I would say Andy Weir falls squarely in between. He's certainly better than Jim Lovell, but not quite as good as Crichton. But then again, outside of a science textbook, I haven't really read anything with quite as MUCH science as Project Hail Mary. So maybe he's just as good, but he just puts more science into his books than Crichton, maybe that's it...? Either way, be prepared for a lot of astonishingly interesting science within the pages of this novel...and I DO mean a LOT. I don't say this to make you wary or steer you away...on the contrary, Andy Weir has a special talent for making hard science truly entertaining.
The book opens with an absolutely amazing and frightening premise: an astronaut awakes from an induced coma to find the only other two people on board have died at some point along their journey...but it gets worse. He has no idea who he is, or why he's on the ship, and oh yeah, they look to be a long way from home. A really, REALLY long way from home. In fact, the sun he sees isn't actually OUR sun at all. He's managed to leave our solar system entirely. And he has no idea why.
((Minor Spoilers)) The book goes through some clever flash-backs, which set the stage for why the mission happens, and slowly, carefully explains how they managed to get so far away from earth in such a short amount of time. Basically, earth's sun seems to be dying. At the rate of decay, we have maybe 19 years left before the gradual cooling has catastrophic consequences resulting in the death of billions (best guess). Why the sun is dimming is quite the conundrum in the first place. Turns out it really isn't dying, it's being killed by an outside source...which turns out to be easily the greatest find in history. It's alien life, and they are using the sun for food, essentially. It's alien life, but not intelligent life. But still, wow! ALIENS, right???
After this monumental discovery, and some tremendous research done by the most improbable scientist, the investigation into what is happening and why and what to do about it expands exponentially to other nations in order to pool all the resources possible to hopefully save the sun, and by extension, the human race as well. They learn. A LOT. A plan is put together, and with the help of the newly discovered microscopic alien life, which can also double as a power source (along with a few other nifty surprises), they begin to create one last, Hail Mary that could very well be the last chance we might have to save earth. It's audacious. It's dangerous, and it is absolutely critical that it succeed.
As our astronaut's memory slowly unravels, so does his identity: Ryland Grace. He's a teacher on earth. Just a science teacher. Not even a college professor. He's amazingly smart, though. But he's no astronaut...and certainly not one who would volunteer to go on a one-way mission to another solar system to "try" and save humanity. Yet here he is. Alone. light years from earth, trying to solve the biggest riddle in all of human history. Ryland accepts his situation, such as it is, with relative indifference (for the most part). It doesn't matter HOW he got here. He's here now and he may as well use that time to be as productive as possible, right? Along the way, he unravels even more information regarding the microscopic alien life which is slowly dimming our sun during some additional flashbacks. The aliens, dubbed, "Astrophage" are quite the galactic plague as it turns out. Stars all over the galaxy are also losing their light, all due to the little buggers. All that is, except one particular star named, Tau Ceti. Now why would that one star be unaffected by Astrophage, when every single star around it has been affected to some degree. The plan is to go there and figure it out and send the information back, hopefully in time to save the sun before the damage to earth is beyond repair.
There is an incredible amount of stuff going on. The story switches from Tau Ceti to flashbacks of how the whole mission was planned and implemented (which is VERY entertaining, especially Director Stratt, who may actually be my favorite character in the entire novel). Weir is becoming quite adept at building tension, and abruptly switching the story from Tau Ceti back to earth and building more of the backstory then switching back to Tau Ceti. Keeping it all in check and most importantly, interesting all while mixing in a healthy dose of science, which I am to understand is pretty much all genuine, is quite the juggling act. I have long known science can be astronomically entertaining (see what I did there?) when done right...but unfortunately very few people in a position to teach science actually know the best way to create that interest in others. I can say without reservation, Andy Weir definitely knows how to do it...at least in written form.
There is so much I want to say more regarding this truly phenomenal story, but I simply cannot without ruining a lot of the fun and surprises revealed along the way...and it is killing me to keep it locked in. Though I labeled a spoiler warning earlier, I don't think it gave away any more than what the author himself has revealed in interviews he has done regarding the book, and what you can glean from reading the summary here and just a couple other reviews. Tying all of that science together is truly astonishing to me. The creativity to put it into a novel that is remarkably exciting to read is nothing more than incredible talent. Kudo's to Andy Weir for not just hitting a home run, Project Hail Mary is a Grand Slam all the way. I truly did not want this story to end. By the way, I enjoyed the ending quite a bit. I don't know if everyone will. But it was fine for me. I think the ending screams "sequel" at some point too. A lot was left open-ended (IMO) and I wouldn't mind reading a follow-up to this. It doesn't HAVE to happen, but there are a lot of ways where the story could go if Andy chose to do it. Just sayin'.
Just run out and buy this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2021
★★★★★ 5
Wonderful
Format: Kindle
The amount of detail in this book is so interesting and the specifics of so much theoretical ideas revolving around true ideas makes it so fun to read. The writer does a great job and describing every situation enough where you get the point but not too much to try to bore you . The book is very easy to follow, keeps you on your toes, was pretty funny to me, and truthfully just a great book for anyone!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2026