Mexican Red Bird of Paradise

If you like to have colors in your garden and you live in Texas, choose the Mexican Red Bird of Paradise

The Mexican Red Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) grows like a shrub and is considered perennial in frost free areas. The plant has bright red flowers with a hint of translucent orange strikes on one or two petals and fern-like foliage.
The flowers are favorites of bees, wasp, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Once the flower is pollinated, the plant will produce brown reddish seed pods the size of a green seed pod. The seeds are ridged and may be poisoned. When the seed pod mature, it will burst making a crack noise and shoot seeds away. It’s a common shrub in the arid areas of the southern states.