Jun 11, 2026 / By Anas Heaba / in Growing Guides
Burning Bush, also called Summer Cypress and known in Egypt as كوكيا or مكنسة الجنة, is a warm-season annual prized for its dense, feathery foliage. The fine-leaved ornamental form (Bassia scoparia f. trichophylla) grows as a neat rounded to columnar bush, bright green all summer, then turns a dramatic scarlet to burgundy red as autumn nights cool. It belongs to the Amaranthaceae family and is a true annual, not a perennial.
For Egyptian gardens it has a big advantage: once established it is heat- and drought-tolerant and even copes with saline, alkaline soils, which suits much of our soil. That makes it an easy, low-maintenance plant for a colorful hedge, screen, or eye-catching specimen.
Kochia is frost-tender, so grow it over the warm season, not through the cold November to February window. The reliable window is spring, after frost risk passes, with feathery growth through spring and the red color developing in late summer to early autumn.
In the Nile Delta and Lower Egypt (Alexandria, Cairo), where occasional light frost can occur in December and January, direct-sow from February to April once the soil starts warming. Germination wants roughly 21-24°C. In Upper Egypt (Aswan, Luxor, Minya), which is essentially frost-free, you can start earlier (February) and even sow again in early autumn. Avoid sowing transplants into the hottest mid-summer in the south.
Surface-sow the seeds; do not bury them. They need light to germinate, so press them gently onto the soil surface for good contact. Soaking the seed overnight before sowing speeds emergence. In light at about 21-24°C, expect germination in roughly 1 to 2 weeks (about 10-15 days), occasionally up to a month in cooler conditions.
Direct-sow outdoors after the last frost, or start indoors in pots about 4-6 weeks before the last frost and transplant out once frost danger has passed. Sow 2-4 seeds per spot and thin to the strongest seedling. Choose a full-sun position; it will not grow well in shade, and full sun is needed for both dense bushy growth and strong red color. Space single specimens about 60-70 cm apart; for a dense hedge or screen, space as close as about 20 cm. Average, well-drained soil works, including neutral to alkaline and even slightly acidic, poor soils (preferred pH around 6-7), but organically rich, well-drained soil gives the lushest growth.
Apply an all-purpose fertilizer early in the season at planting or establishment. Then feed with a nitrogen-containing fertilizer through the summer growing period to support the lush, feathery foliage that makes this plant worth growing.
Water moderately to keep the soil evenly moist while young plants establish; their water needs are medium thereafter. Once established, Kochia is genuinely heat- and drought-tolerant. A useful trick: reducing water in late summer actually intensifies the red foliage color, so ease off irrigation as autumn approaches. Site the plant where it is protected from strong winds, because the tall, bushy form can be rocked. As an ornamental it is generally trouble-free, with no serious insect or disease problems reported.
This is an ornamental grown for its foliage, not a food crop, so the "harvest" is the show. The plant forms a rounded to columnar bush typically 0.6-1.5 m tall and about 0.3-0.45 m wide. Its flowers are small, green, and insignificant. The real display is the foliage: bright green through summer, then turning bright scarlet to burgundy red in autumn as nights cool, which is the cue that the plant is mature. Reduced late-summer watering helps that color come on strongest.
To get started, pick fresh, viable seed. At tna W rna you can choose Kochia (Burning Bush) seeds for home growing, which are ideal for a first patio or garden patch. If you want a recognizable botanical pack, the Kochia scoparia seeds are a great choice, and for larger hedges or screens consider a more generous Kochia seed pack so you have plenty for close spacing. Sow in spring after frost, give it full sun, and enjoy that fiery autumn color.
Jun 11, 2026 by Anas Heaba
Jun 11, 2026 by Anas Heaba
