I do not fertilize any of my landscape plants, and would recommend you skip the fertilizer too with plants like this which tend to get out of control when they are spoiled. (Also skip the fertilizer with landscape agaves.) Less water will also make a difference with your Firesticks, though the plant definitely needs some water over the summer to keep going strong.
The plants here are still pretty pink after our second rain of the season. They are always more orange than green, though.
