type : Evergreen, Shrubs, Trees, Vines / Ground Covers
sun exposure : Full Sun, Partial Shade
water : Moderate Water
Plant Details
This heat-loving group includes several showy shrubs, one of which can be grown as a vine and another as a tree. All feature 2 inches-long, trumpet-shaped flowers in the yellow-orange-red range and leaves divided featherwise into many leaflets. Excellent for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. Easy to grow in well-drained soil. Take drought but look best with periodic soakings. Remove faded flowers to prolong bloom and lessen production of seedpods. Resist damage from browsing deer.
orange bells
tecoma x alata
- Shrub.
- Zones LS, CS, TS; USDA 8-11.
- Grows to 8 feet tall, 45 feet wide, with bright green foliage and orange flowers throughout warm weather.
- Tolerates light frost; may die to ground in a hard freeze but recovers quickly in warm weather.
- Some consider 'Orange Jubilee' to be a selection of this plant; others identify it as a hybrid between Tecoma capensis and Tecoma stans.
cape honeysuckle
tecoma capensis (Tecomaria capensis)
- Shrub or vine.
- Zones CS, TS; USDA 9-11.
- From South Africa.
- If tied to a support, can scramble to 1530 feet.; with hard pruning, makes an upright shrub 68 feet tall, 45 feet wide.
- Shiny dark green leaflets give it a fine-textured look.
- Brilliant orange-red flowers in compact clusters appear from fall into spring.
- Takes wind, salt air.
- Use as espalier, bank cover (good on hot, steep slopes), coarse barrier hedge.
- Little water.
- Aurea has lighter green foliage and yellow flowers; somewhat less vigorous than the species.
- Buff Gold has golden orange blooms.
argentine tecoma
tecoma garrocha
- Shrub.
- Zones LS, CS, TS; USDA 8-11.
- From Argentina.
- To 10 feet tall and wide.
- Clusters of salmon to orange blossoms throughout warm weather.
- Reacts to freezes like Tecoma x alata.
yellow bells, yellow trumpet flower, yellow elder, esperanza
tecoma stans (Stenolobium stans)
- Shrub or tree.
- Zones CS, TS; USDA 9-11.
- Native from southern U.S. to Guatemala.
- In Tropical South, can be trained as a tree.
- Usually a large shrub in the Coastal South.
- Wood may die back in hard freezes, but new growth comes on quickly.
- Can reach 25 feet tall, 1020 feet wide.
- Large clusters of lightly fragrant, bright yellow flowers from late spring to early winter.
- Good for boundary planting, big shrub border, screening.
- Needs heat, deep soil, fairly heavy feeding.
Gold Star
- is a profuse, early bloomer sometimes used as an annual in cold-winter areas.
- It grows about 3 feet tall and wide in its first season and may reach 8 feet tall and wide if not cut back or frozen.
- Has extra-large blooms that come earlier in the season.
- Sierra Apricot, a hybrid with Tecoma x alata, has apricot-colored flowers on a compact, bushy plant just 3 feet tall and 45 feet wide.
tecoma s
- angustata.
- Zones LS, CS, TS; USDA 8-11.
- Native from Arizona to Texas and adjoining Mexico.
- To 410 feet tall, 38 feet wide.
- Narrow leaflets.
- Blooms from midspring to late fall.
- Needs less water and fertilizer than the species.
- Hardy to 10F.