Russelia Species, Red Firecracker Plant

This grows wild in Costa Rica and it seems to prefer very dry conditions. Often seen growing out from under boulders.
I have rece...Read Morently collected some from where it was growing in our neighborhood on deserted lots and in ditches and repotted them. Now they are producing more blooms which seem to be smaller than I see on internet photos.
Personally, I do prefer R. equisetiformis which I also grow, both red and white, but all are attractive to hummingbirds which is why I grow them.

I have 5 of these. One in a large whiskey barrel and the other 4 in the ground . For some reason the ones in the ground dont seem to be ...Read Moregrowing and spreading as much as the one in the barrel . The ones in the ground only get about 3 feet but get very wide and the one in the barrel shoots up large stems to about five feet and is taking over the entire planter . All have come back for two seasons in my zone 8a climate. I am trying to figure out why the one in the barrel is taking off and the ones in the ground are just average. I amend my soil with humus and sometimes manure if I can find it properly composted . the barrel is filled with the awful clay soil that I dug up from behind the house and it seems to love it . I think this is one of those plants that likes to be ignored and not babied. The one in the barrel also flowers a lot more than the ones in the beds . Perhaps they dont like to be in a bed with other perennials ? Or maybe they dont like too much root competition . Maybe next year in spring I will dig them all out of the beds and put them in very large containers . I love them because the hummingbirds love to battle over the plants and they do their aerial acrobatics right by the front porch . Does anyone with experience with this plant know why the one in the container is doing so well? I thought I had done everything wrong with it but its the biggest . I gave it awful soil ignore the heck out of it and its just taking off. Also what could I do woth the ones in the ground to make them do what the one in the barrel is doing . I am a very experienced gardener but this plant is just leaving me baffled . It seems to like to be ignored and abused .

I've had this plant in my garden for four seasons, It is a wonderful sight in late summer all the way through the first hard freeze. It w...Read Moreill completely freeze to to the ground if temperatures dip below 32, but grows back fuller each spring. It now has spread of about five feet and flower spikes can reach to almost six foot. The flower spikes have a pretty thick stem and they slightly bend but never needing to be staked. Hummers and butterflies love this plant. I did try to propagate from the woody stems and they were taking hold but forgot to protect them in the cold...will see if they come up...I hope so because I've been unable to find another one of this plants.
Update: I've been successful in propagating cut stems in potted soil now several times. Woody stems with fresh growth do the best. I've yet to figure out what a seed pod looks like on this plant, I've never seen one, unless it is real tiny inside the flowers. If someone can give me information on the seed of this plant I'd be happy. Just Dmail me.

This plant blooms repeatedly, or all year in mild climates.

It loves pruning! It will grow back quickly from a prune and w...Read Moreill put on another glorious display of flowering. It tends to flower better on newer growth... you can differentiate new growth from old growth by looking at the leaves; the leaves on old growth get reddish/brownish. Newer growth is also darker green.