PlantFiles: Firecracker Plant, Mexican Honeysuckle, Orange Plume Flower
Justicia spicigera

I think this is a very under rated plant. I am a z7 and we grow this plant in areas that are designed for little watering but it also preforms beautifully in areas were trop's are grown with lots of water..This is the 3rd year to have them .I have taken cuttings that are in the house and are beginnging to bloom.

I received this plant from a friend in Houston several years ago. It is in a raised bed near the street and blooms all of the time. This Winter wasn't terribly cold, but there were several days where there was sleet and a bit of snow. It never died back. It even made it through a hail storm recently and just lost the flowers. I am looking forward to growing more of these and spreading them around the yard. The flowers are an amazing color of orange!

San Antonio, Texas
This plant is native to Mexico and naturalized in a few parts of south Texas. It is an excellent xeriscape plant and has grown in my mother's yard for 60 years with little care and water. I have grown this plant for 20 years in the hottest and driest part of my yard. It has been a "pass along" plant for generations and is now becoming available (although not readily) in garden centers. It has light to medium green, simple, velvety, ovate, slender, 3in long leaves, somewhat floppy branches and a mounding shape. The tubular flower clusters (to 1.5 inches) are a beautiful bright orange and appear on the terminal branches and bloom profusely from about June to the first freeze in my area. During mild winters, it will not be damaged and sometimes blooms off and on. A very hard freeze (below 22 degrees F or so can kill it to the ground in Zones 8a and 8b, but it will rebound quickly in the spring from the roots. It was still blooming beautifully one Febrauary after a sustained low of 26 and a week later, freezing mist and freezing drizzle that totally encased the plant in a thin layer of ice.

It is adaptable to various soils, requires little fertilzation, withstands extreme heat (108 degrees for several days in August this year), has few insect pests and is easily size controlled. Note: It performs best in prepared soils with moderate water - brighter green leaves, more flower production and less leggyness. It can be grown under tree canopies and/or containers. The rootball can be easily divided and transplanted; but, it requires more water than it usually does and takes some time to establish itself. After established, do not overwater or over fertilize. An extremely reliable and tough plant.