Ruby Falls Firecracker Plant

Ruby Falls Firecracker Plant (Russelia 'Ruby Falls') is the plant for the top of a retaining wall, where fine arching stems can pour over the edge and hide the concrete. It grows to about 90cm tall and 1.2m across, and it carries slim tubular red flowers almost continuously through the warm months. Honeyeaters find it within weeks of planting.

Why you'll love it

• It flowers nearly all year in the warm. Red tubular blooms from spring through autumn, and often longer in tropical gardens.
• The weeping habit does real work. Stems arch out and down, so one plant softens a metre of hard edge on a wall or a pot rim.
• Honeyeaters love it. The tubular shape suits nectar feeding birds, and the bees and butterflies come for the same reason.
• Heat, salt and drought are no trouble. Once established it copes with reflected heat off paving, salt spray and long dry spells.
• Fast and forgiving. It fills its space in a season and asks for little more than a hard cut back every couple of years.

Where it works best

Retaining walls and slopes. Plant 80cm apart along the top of a wall or across a bank. The stems knit together and drape, which stops erosion and covers the structure at the same time.

Poolside, balconies and courtyards. It has no invasive roots, drops little litter and shrugs off the heat bouncing off pool coping, which is why it turns up around so many pools.

Groundcover and pots. At 80cm spacing it works as a loose, flowering groundcover. In a pot 400mm or wider it spills over the rim within a season.

Growing Ruby Falls Firecracker Plant in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering, and a tropical, subtropical or warm temperate garden. This one is frost tender, so in cool temperate and inland districts grow it in a pot and move it under cover before the cold sets in.

Soil. Free draining, and not much else matters. Sandy coastal soils suit it. On clay, plant on a raised mound, because wet feet through winter is the one thing that reliably kills it.

Water and feed. Water twice a week for the first two months, then only through extended dry weather. A slow release fertiliser in early spring is plenty. Rich feeding gives soft growth and fewer flowers.

Pruning. Shear it back by a third in late winter to keep the centre from going woody and bare. Every second or third year, cut it harder and it reshoots readily from the base.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes as single tubes or 140mm pots in packs of ten. Tubes are small and wiry on arrival, which is normal, and they grow away quickly once the soil warms. The 140mm packs are the sensible buy for a wall or a bank, giving you ten matched plants at 80cm spacing.

Plants travel well because the stems are flexible rather than brittle. Expect a quiet few weeks, then rapid growth and first flowers within two to three months in warm weather. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95, minimum order of $300 before delivery, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• More plants for retaining walls and slopes
• Browse the poolside planting range
• Choosing low maintenance plants around a pool
• Other plants that bring nectar feeding birds in

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Eighty centimetres apart for a continuous cover along a wall or bank. Closer than that and the stems crowd, which leaves the centres woody and thin after a few seasons.

Will it survive a cold winter?

Not a frosty one. It is frost tender and suited to tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens. In cooler areas keep it in a pot on a sheltered north facing wall and move it under cover.

Does it need much water once established?

No. After the first couple of months it is genuinely drought tolerant, and it flowers better lean than with constant moisture.