Don’t wait until New Year’s Eve or the Fourth of July for a fireworks show. Plant a firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis) and enjoy a brilliant display all summer until frost.

Leaves of this plant remind you of horsetail (Equisetum h.), thus the name equisetiformis — like horsetail. That is the only thing like horsetail though, the bright coral blooms scream out for attention.

A tropical plant, firecracker plant has been hardy in the IDEA Garden for years. Last year was the tell-all year and we were afraid we had lost it, but come back it did. Maybe not with the vigor of preceding years, but unless we have a repeat of last winter, it should regain all lost ground.

Little coral firecrackers are blooming now in our garden. Hummingbirds like this plant especially if you can place it in a fairly high area. Ours is in the Rainbow Garden area and right at the curb, a little low for the birds to get to. It is in its zenith in fall after a long hot summer. Heat is its greatest desire. In past summers, when we had heat extremes and were losing many of the normal plants, this little trooper just “smiled” and rapidly grew, blooming more and more until struck down by the first freeze.

You can usually find firecracker plants in most nurseries from mid-summer on. They demand full sun and good drainage. In pots, they excel but will have to winter over inside. If they can get established in the ground, they will perform year after year, getting larger and more floriferous all the time.

I saw a whiskey barrel planted with firecracker plant around the edge and an Esperanza (yellowbells) in the center — totally awesome.