Plant of the day is: Russelia equisetiformis or coral plant (sometimes firecracker plant)

Plant of the day is: Russelia equisetiformis or coral plant (sometimes firecracker plant)

Photo Copyright David Stang under creative commons

“Tropicos, botanical information system at the Missouri Botanical Garden - www.tropicos.org”

It's been awhile, but I'm hoping to pick this back up a bit over Thanksgiving.

Culture:    So, this is a zone 9-11 plant with a spread and height of about 3-5 feet depending on its happinness.  It can't handle a temperature much below freezing, maybe down to about 25F if you're lucky.  It will handle just about any kind of soil providing its fairly well drained.  I should imagine it would perform decently in clayey soils provided they aren't overwatered for extended periods of time.  It can handle heat, and once established can handle a fair bit of drought.  It does best in full sun but can grow in part shade but you can be certain to expect fewer flowers.  If you are wanting to save some for next year you have two options.  You can keep in a bright well lit window (it has to be very bright though) and maybe even get it to bloom OR you can cut it back hard and store in a dark cool place that won't freeze.  This HAS escaped cultivation in areas where it is hardy so if you live in one of those areas make absolutely SURE that is not going to happen.  Be responsible plant peoples.

Use:  It can be grown in the ground as an annual, grown in a pot, a basket, or on a wall.  The stems start out fairly erect but then arch over into a nice mound form.  If you are feeling ambitious you can even train them up a trellis.  I like the idea of using them around walls.  I may use these in some pots next year.  It attracts hummingbirds and butterflies so you can use it for ...that.

Taxonomy:  Tropicos and Wiki both list the family as Plantaginaceae so thats good enough for me.  This genus is often listed in a few other families but I'm going to stick with Tropicos.  The plant genus was named by Baron Nikolaus von Jacquin to honor Swedish naturalist Alexander Russel.  Yep.  The species equisetiformis means basically that it resembles Equisetum or horse tail rush.  See below for a nice shot.  It's a neat plant for the family, a real character.  Kind of hard see how the flowers relate to Plantago really but I'm sure they share some commonality.

Thats really about all for now, enjoy.  Maybe plant some of this, it looks fun.