Shrub · Celastraceae
Burning Bush
Euonymus alatus
Plant it in full sun and the fall foliage flares a deep scarlet you can spot from across the yard.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 4–8
15–20 ft · 4.6–6.1 m
Overview
Burning bush is a tough, easy shrub grown for one reason above all others: its fall color. The summer foliage is a plain, dependable green, but as the days shorten the leaves turn a fierce scarlet-red that lit up countless yards and parking lots for decades. Corky, winged ridges run down the stems, which is where names like winged euonymus come from.
It asks for almost nothing. Once its roots are down it shrugs off drought, takes clay, loam, or sand without complaint, and survives winters down to -29°F (-34°C). That same toughness is the catch. Birds eat the orange-red fruit and drop the seed in woods and fencerows, where it grows into dense thickets that crowd out native plants.
Because of that, burning bush is now invasive across much of the eastern and central United States and banned outright in several states. If you want the same blaze of fall color without the spread, look to natives like chokeberry, serviceberry, or ninebark instead.
Care
The short version: plant it in full sun for the brightest fall color, give it well-drained soil of almost any kind, water until it's established and then mostly leave it alone, and prune in late winter to keep its shape.
Light
Give burning bush full sun for the strongest fall color. It tolerates partial shade and still grows fine, but plants in shade leaf out green in autumn and skip the scarlet show that makes the shrub worth planting.
Water
Water a new plant regularly through its first year, then back off. Once established it is genuinely drought tolerant and only wants water every 7 to 14 days in a dry spell. Steer clear of constantly wet soil, which invites twig blight.
Soil
This shrub takes almost any well-drained soil, from clay to loam to sand, across a wide pH of 5.5 to 8.0. Drainage is the one thing it insists on, since soggy ground is what causes most of its trouble.
Temperature
Burning bush is cold-hardy from about -29°F to 95°F (-34°C to 35°C), which covers USDA zones 4 through 8. Hard winters don't faze it, and that same resilience is part of why it escapes so easily into the wild.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor humidity suits it, so there's no level to manage. Air movement matters more than moisture in the air, since stagnant, crowded growth is what gives fungal twig blight an opening.
Feeding
This is a shrub that rarely needs feeding. A single balanced slow-release fertilizer in spring covers it, and only if growth looks poor. Too much nitrogen pushes leafy green growth at the expense of the fall color you planted it for.
Pruning
Prune in late winter or early spring before new growth starts, whether you're shaping it or cutting it back hard, which it takes in stride. Snipping off the spent fruit also limits the seedlings that make this plant a problem.
Repotting
Burning bush is a landscape shrub and rarely lives in a pot, so repotting is seldom an issue. If you do grow a young one in a container, move it up when roots circle the bottom, water runs straight through, or the top growth stalls.
Size & spacing
Left alone it grows into a large shrub of 15 to 20 feet (4.5 to 6 m) tall and 8 to 12 feet (2.4 to 3.7 m) wide. Give it that much room, or plan on regular pruning to hold it to size.
When to plant
Burning bush is a hardy deciduous shrub, so the calendar is simple. Plant it in spring or fall while the weather is mild, watch for inconspicuous green flowers around May, and wait for the real event when the foliage turns red in autumn alongside its orange-red fruit.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Spring or fall
- Harvest: Inconspicuous yellow-green flowers in spring (about May), followed by red-purple fall foliage and orange-red fruit
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Burning bush rarely gives a grower much grief, and most of its problems are easy to read. Weak fall color points to its site, while spots, webbing, or dieback point to a pest or a soggy root zone. Match what you see below and act before it spreads.
Stippled, bronzed leaves with fine webbing in hot weather
Pale, sandblasted-looking leaves with fine webbing on the undersides point to spider mites, which boom in hot, dry, dusty spells. Tap a leaf over white paper and you'll see tiny specks crawling. Blast the foliage with water to knock them loose, then follow up with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap, repeating to catch the next generation.
Fix:
- Spray foliage forcefully with water to dislodge mites
- Apply horticultural oil or insecticidal soap
- Repeat treatments to break the mite life cycle
Twigs and small branches dying back
Scattered dead twigs and sunken cankers usually mean twig blight, a fungus that takes hold in soggy ground. It shows up most where drainage is poor or the soil never dries. Prune well below each lesion, clean your tools between cuts so you don't carry it along, and fix the drainage that let it start.
Fix:
- Prune out and dispose of affected twigs well below the damage
- Improve drainage and avoid overwatering
- Clean pruning tools between cuts
White, crusty scale on stems and yellowing leaves
Crusty white and brown bumps clinging to the stems are euonymus scale, a sap-sucking insect that yellows the leaves and weakens the plant over time. Cut out the worst-covered stems and coat the rest in horticultural oil to smother them. Timing matters most when the young crawlers are moving in late spring and summer, since that's when sprays actually land.
Fix:
- Prune out heavily infested stems
- Apply horticultural oil to smother scale
- Treat crawlers when active in late spring to summer
Dull fall color instead of bright scarlet
This shrub earns its name from the autumn show, so a flat, greenish fall usually means too little sun. Plants tucked into shade leaf out fine but never flush red, and a heavy dose of nitrogen pushes the same leafy growth at the cost of color. Move it to a full-sun spot and ease off the feeding, and the color comes back.
Fix:
- Relocate or transplant to a full-sun site
- Reduce or stop nitrogen fertilizing
- Thin overhanging vegetation to increase light
Toxicity
Treat this whole shrub as poisonous. The leaves, bark, and fruit hold alkaloids and cardiac glycosides that bring on vomiting and diarrhea and, in larger amounts, disturb the heartbeat. It is unsafe for dogs, cats, horses, livestock, and people alike, so keep the fallen berries and prunings well out of reach.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Moderate
A cat that chews the leaves or fruit usually drools and vomits, with diarrhea and belly pain to follow. Eat enough and the cardiac glycosides start to throw off the heartbeat, which turns a bad night into an emergency.
Dogs Moderate
Dogs tend to vomit and pass loose, painful stools within hours of nibbling any part of the shrub. A big mouthful brings weakness and an irregular heart rhythm, so a vet call is the safe move.
Horses Moderate
Horses can't vomit, so the toxins stay put and show up as colic, diarrhea, and a dragging, weak gait. Browsing a real quantity can disturb the heartbeat and warrants a vet right away.
Rabbits Toxic
The same alkaloids and glycosides hit a rabbit's small body hard, bringing gut stasis, diarrhea, and fast decline. None of this plant belongs anywhere a rabbit can reach it.
Livestock Toxic
Cattle, sheep, and goats that strip the foliage or fallen fruit get severe digestive upset and, with larger amounts, dangerous heart-rhythm trouble. Keep grazing animals out of any hedge or windbreak that includes it.
Birds Caution
Birds swallow the bright fruit and pass the seed unharmed, which is exactly how this shrub spreads into wild land. They handle the arils, but the seeds and foliage are still risky for caged or ground-feeding species.
People Caution
Nothing on this shrub is meant to be eaten. The fruit and seeds can cause vomiting and diarrhea, and a large dose carries the same heart-rhythm risk, so keep curious children away from the showy berries.
Keep fallen fruit and prunings away from pets and small children; ingestion of several leaves or seeds commonly causes gastrointestinal upset.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
A few named selections turn up at garden centers, mostly smaller forms of the same plant. Worth knowing that none of them solves the invasive problem.
Compactus
A dwarf winged form that tops out around 10 feet and grows denser than the species, though it still sets abundant seed and spreads just as invasively.
Rudy Haag
A very compact, slow-growing selection that stays around 3 to 5 feet tall and sets far less fruit than most.
How to propagate
Burning bush is easy to multiply, which is part of why it spreads so freely in the wild. You can root cuttings on purpose or, far too often, watch seedlings appear on their own.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Softwood cuttings in early summer or semi-hardwood cuttings in mid to late summer · Several weeks to root, then grown on for a season or more
Take softwood cuttings in early summer or semi-hardwood ones a little later, dip the cut ends in rooting hormone, and keep them humid until they take. They root over several weeks, then need a full season or more of growing on before they're ready to plant out.
SeedEasy
Seed sown after cleaning and cold stratification · Germinates readily; note that prolific self-seeding is the main reason this plant is invasive
Cleaned and cold-stratified seed sprouts with little trouble, which is exactly the problem. Birds eat the fruit and scatter the seed far and wide, so this is how the shrub jumps the garden fence and turns invasive. Starting it from seed on purpose is discouraged.
Myths
The dwarf and compact cultivars of burning bush are safe to plant because they are not invasive.
Compact selections like Compactus still pump out plenty of bird-spread seed, so they escape into the wild as readily as the full-size shrub. Burning bush is banned or regulated in several states no matter the cultivar, dwarf forms included.