But suddenly, a few years ago, firecracker plant reemerged from unjustified obscurity and is once again widely available. That's good news because this unusual plant is unlike any other species we grow in Polk. Growing up to four feet tall, it forms graceful clumps of weeping stems studded with small, brilliant-red, tubular flowers displayed nearly year round.
Few plants are as easy to cultivate as firecracker plant.
It thrives in full or partial sun on most soils and gets by with a minimum of fertilizer and irrigation. When pampered with enriched, moist soil, firecracker plant spreads rapidly, colonizing large areas as its pendulous stems take root wherever they touch the ground. Arctic fronts are this species' main nemesis, though plants on the south or east sides of structures, or under trees, escape damage in all but the most extreme freezes. And it doesn't take much to blacken the stems of this tender, fairly delicate species. While many frozen-down crossandras recover with the onset of spring, many others don't, especially specimens that were installed too late in the year to become well established.