Common names are confusing. The plants in the photos have small, red, tube-shaped flowers that resemble firecrackers but the plants are very different.

• I have heard the plant in the photo above called a cigar plant and also a firecracker plant. Its scientific name is Cuphea ignea. It will grow to a 3 ft ( 0.9 m) tall shrub. I refer to it as the cigar plant.
• The plant in the photo below is also called a firecracker plant or coral plant. Its scientific name is Russelia equisetiformis. It is also a shrub-like plant with long drooping branches that may reach 4 ft (1.2 m) in length. The small scale-like leaves give the branches a rush-like appearance. I refer to this one as the firecracker plant.

I received two small cigar plants from Meems, @ Hoe and Shovel, in early June. I tucked them into the soil before they had fully developed roots but I was leaving Florida for a few weeks, so wanted them in the ground before I left. To my delight they have taken root and are already producing flowers.

The firecracker plants were moved from one place in the yard to another earlier this spring, but continue to recover from the transplant. They are on a rise in the backyard with space for their dropping branches to cascade to a lower level. The cigar plants are slightly higher on the rise. They are clustered together to fill in the space above the firecracker plants.

I placed the plants close together based on a recommendation on Floridata that the slender red flowers of the Cuphea and Russelia plants would compliment each other. I like the placement and I’m happy with the cheerful colors of each. Both are good plants for butterflies and hummingbirds, so they are excellent additions to the butterfly garden.