Tangerine Falls Firecracker Plant

The Tangerine Falls Firecracker Plant (Russelia equisetiformis 'Tangerine Falls') is built to spill. It grows to about 60cm tall and 1.2m across, sending fine arching stems over a wall or a pot rim and covering them in narrow orange tubular flowers for most of the warm season. Honeyeaters find it quickly, and it does all of this on very little water.

Why you'll love it

• A weeping habit that softens hard edges. The stems cascade rather than mound, so a retaining wall stops looking like concrete.
• Long flowering. Orange tubular flowers carry through the warm months, not in a single short burst.
• Birds work it daily. The tubular shape is made for honeyeaters, and they visit a single plant repeatedly.
• Fast, dry and coastal proof. It covers ground quickly, then holds up through dry spells, reflected heat and salt wind.

Where it works best

Retaining walls and slopes. This is its best use. Plant 60cm apart along the top of a wall and the stems curtain down the face within a season or two. On a slope the same spacing gives a cascading cover that holds the surface.

Groundcover, pots and poolside. At 60cm apart across an open bed the plants knit into a low flowering carpet, useful where a lawn is too much work and a shrub is too tall. A 400mm raised pot at the edge of a deck will hang well below the rim within a year.

Growing the Tangerine Falls Firecracker Plant in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering. It suits tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens and takes heat and coastal salt without complaint. It is frost tender, so in cool inland and southern gardens grow it in a pot that can move under cover.

Soil. Any free draining soil is fine, including poor sandy ground. On clay, plant on a raised mound or into a wall cavity where water cannot sit around the crown. Mulch lightly, clear of the stems.

Water and feed. Water twice a week through the first summer to establish, then only during long dry periods. One application of controlled release fertiliser in early spring keeps the flowering strong, and heavy feeding just produces leggy stems.

Pruning. Shear the whole plant back by about a third in late winter. It reshoots readily and returns denser, which prevents the bare, woody middle that untrimmed plants develop.

What to expect when it arrives

Two sizes are grown: a single tube, and 140mm sold in a pack of 10. Tubes are small young plants and the cheapest way to cover a long wall. The 140mm pack is the practical choice for a run along a retaining wall, since the plants are matched and already branching.

A single tube covers very little wall on its own, so most customers order a pack and plant the full run in one go. Stock is packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. The fine stems can look tangled on arrival and straighten within a fortnight. Expect useful spread in the first warm season and full cascade by the second, under our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Choosing trailing plants for a retaining wall
• Browse plants for walls and slopes
• Compare low mess poolside planting
• More bird attracting plants

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it as a groundcover?

Sixty centimetres apart in a staggered pattern. Each plant spreads to about 1.2m, so that spacing gives full overlapping cover without the crowns competing at the base.

How far will it hang over a wall?

The stems reach roughly 60cm of trailing length, so it curtains the top portion of a wall rather than covering a tall one completely. For a high wall, plant at the top and repeat at the base.

Will it survive a frost?

It is frost tender. A light frost burns the stem tips and a hard one can cut the plant to the ground, though established plants often reshoot in spring. In cold districts, a pot you can move is safer.