Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
milwdave

Esperanza (Tecoma)

milwdave
16 years ago

Can anyone give me any info on these plants? Mine grows like a standard (sorta). I love the blooms but how is it pruned? Likes/dislikes? These were offered for the first time here in Wisconsin through a big box store. But no details other than the common name Esperanza.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

Milwaukee

Comments (8)

  • bearstate
    16 years ago

    Tecoma Stans. This is the species known as Esperanza.

    There are several species of Tecoma and they originate down in South America and Central America and possible North America and the Carribean.

    I had seeds for Tecoma stans and Tecoma Sp., one having yellow trumpets and the other, orange, respectively. The plants germinated with a small degree of difficulty, but I lost most of the sapplings because I wasn't aware of the problems the young plants have with the severe heat here in Bakersfield, CA. Got my seeds from TradeWindsFruit.com. You can find some more info there possible as they have a write up on the plants descriptions. I think you can also email them and they'd be happy to help. They are a family run nursery here in CA.

    Tecoma is possibly related to Tecomaria, but I don't know. If so, rules for Tecomaria, most commonly, the Cape Honeysuckle, may apply. Tecoma can be vine-like and need a trellis or can grow as a free standing shrub. I think I've seen Tecoma used here in the fields of the San Joaquin valley as a wind break hedge. I didn't stop to verify, but it appeared to be Tecoma, large 8 to 10 foot tall lines of it along the roadside, separating the road from orchards.

    Hope that helps to find the info you are looking for.

    I've ordered more seeds for another variety called Tecoma Sambucifolia. There are others you'll find available through TradeWindsFruit.com.

    I just checked the Wickipedia article on Tecoma and it doesn't say much except to list all the species of Tecoma, 14 from the Americas, including the US and 2 from South Africa. Tecomaria, the Cape Honeysuckle, is from South Africa, so yes, it looks like Tecomaria may well be related to Tecomas or IS a Tecoma.

  • bahia
    16 years ago

    Tecoma and Tecomaria are related in the same family, and both have blooms that are similar in appearance, and both enjoy desert heat to bloom best. Tecoma stans will be an indoor in winter, outdoor in summer plant anywhere it freezes regularly in winter. It can be pruned back hard in fall, and left to regrow and bloom on fresh growth in summer, but needs real heat and lots of fertilizer to get it to bloom again quickly if cut all the way back to the ground. More popular as a landscape shrub/small tree in the American Southwest and southern California, or Florida. In the deserts, such as Palm Springs, it can be seen blooming nearly 10 months out of the year, and even into January/February in mild winters, although less specatularly than in high heat of summer/fall.

    The orange blooming species/hybrid T. x smithii is an attractive year round blooming large shrub that is better for use in mild summer climates such as the San Francisco Bay Area, where it blooms 10 months of the year for me.

  • longwoodgradms
    16 years ago

    Esperanza or Yellow Bells is widely grow for big box stores by a company here in FL. It is Tecoma stans.

    Up there in Wisconsin, give it full sun as much as possible ensuring the rootball doesn't dry out. It is weak-wooded so as it gets bigger/leggier you will find a thunderstorm wind will smash branches.

    DO prune off the seed pods, as this encourage the side branchlets that will immediately flower. Tecoma will grow voracisouly with humidity and heat, so if you want to prune a shrub back by 1/2 in the summer(even up there), it will come growing back well.

    In winter you will need to give it a huge amount of sunlight indoors, otherwise massive leaf drop will occur. It may be best to severely cut back the standard when you bring it in before the fall freeze and then reduce watering (force a dormancy) over the winter, and then in late March (still indoors) increase watering to promote stronger growth. Then by early May, bring it outside again, prune back if the winter growth is leggy (or may still sunscald) and let it go to town through your summers.

    I'd recommend leaving the plant in a black nursery pot and sinking the pot with plant in it into the ground and mulch atop. Makes it easier to pull up in fall, and in soil gives the plant some stability and keeps roots cooler and moister longer.

    Perhaps of little use to you, but as previously mentioned by others, Tecoma is a genus that once again clumps Tecomaria capensis as Tecoma capensis.

  • bearstate
    16 years ago

    I think that the idea of planting it in a black pot in the ground is a good idea, even in warmer areas where you don't need to take it indoors. Tecoma can get big. The small pot will limit root growth and thus, overall growth.

    Then just add mulch every now and then to keep it from going bad in depleted soil.

  • sputnikfarm
    16 years ago

    I have the Orange Bells variety purchased at a local nursery labeled Tecoma Stans Alata "Orange Jubilee". I have it up against the back fence in an ersatz espalier. It is currently 10 foot wide and over 10 foot tall. It needs a heavy pruning as it has seed pods everywhere, looks a little sloppy, and it is getting top heavy. I normally prune it like a hedge, about 6 inches deep and top it at 8 feet. It is flowering so mightily right now I keep postponing its inevitable date with the shears.

  • bearstate
    16 years ago

    It's Sunday and I've been transplanting things into bigger pots so that they can grow bigger due to more room for their root growth. One of the things I transplanted was this Tecoma Stans ...

    {{gwi:1311921}}

    This guy started as a seed from TradeWindsFruit.com and has been quietly growing under shade cloth on the patio. My other seedlings sprouted and died due to excessive heat. I caught on to the need for the shade cloth too late to save them. I'm hoping I can clone from this one vice planting more seeds.

    Anybody out there know if Tecoma can be easily propogated by cuttings?

  • daniellalell
    16 years ago

    Yes, I have taken several cuttings and rooted them in plain water on my kitchen windowsill. As soon as I see roots, I pot them up and keep well watered..they are all doing well. I just cut off the green side-branches and used them..trimmed off the lower leaves also. I suggest you use a clear glass so you can see when it has roots. I use old baby food jars.

  • bearstate
    16 years ago

    Thanks Daniel,

    I had several Esperanza seeds, but only one plant survived the ravages of Summer heat on my patio. When I get a situation like that, my hope of hopes is that I can propogate from the existing plant. My Tecoma survivor is doing well and I may take a couple of the lower leaf stems and try to propogate them in the coming days.