Recieved the following query from site visitor, Leann in Ft. Worth, today. Since this is a newish plant on the market,(and a wonderful one for Tex gardens) I am asked about it often enough to file my reply here, under the faq's. The answer also refers to why the USDA plant zones do not always agree with ones own experience.
...Last year we planted an Esperanza. It did great, growing with leaps and bounds. Then our icy weather hit and every leaf is now gone. Do you have any information on the plants or better yet, personal experience. I am curious if they act as a perennial and return or am I going to have to start all over with a new plant?...
from my reply to Leann...
I LOVE that plant! Esperanza's Latin name is Tecoma and there are 3 kinds.
If yours is from a Texas grower, it is probably the 'Gold Star' selection of the Tecoma stans, which is reported to be hardy only in Zone 9.
As you probably know, we are in 7b, but so close to 8 that our winters can vary either way. Yet, the last 2 or 3 winters have been more like zones 9 or 10 in our town. I don't believe we have dipped below 20F (the expected low of zone 9) this year, so chances are your plant's roots are still alive and will regenerate growth in spring.
I am so tempted to go out there and dig around my plant's roots to see if they are still firm and alive - but best not to disturb it. You might want to mulch yours with wood chips or evergreen boughs, just in case we get some colder weather. If your plant is on the sunny south side of your house, especially next to a wall, it will be even more safe for it.
The 'Gold Star' variety was chosen from Austin plant studies for commerce, because it was the earliest blooming Tecoma stans for pot culture, which is what the commercial market required for healthy profits.
Other names for the Tecoma are Yellow Bells, Yellow Alder as well as "Esperanza". Esperanza is Spanish for "hope", so let's hope yours and mine make it through the winter, because if their roots are still alive, they will grow larger this summer than what we would have to replace them with.
I have one that is about 2X2X2. Its in a place very unprotected from the north wind, and is covered by a large flower pot with a couple of bricks on top. I don't know which variety it is. Time will tell whether it survived this winter weather.
No doubt it would have been larger, but it spent a couple of months languishing in a hanging basket before I took the time to read up on it and then ask Maggie about it, and discovered it was a shrub, not a vine. Once transplanted, it grew like crazy. How embarassing.
I have a pot over a variegated hydrangea too Caro. If its tips freeze, it won't bloom. So I hope the pot works.
Thanks so much for this site. I just bought my first at Wal-Mart and it is a Gold Star. I bought it because of the shape of the shrub and the yellow blooms, but was thrilled to see it attracks butterflies and Hummingbirds. I had just bought a butterfly bush and was hoping to find how big it grows in comparison... I live in the Texas panhandle and will insulate it with wood chips and it is on the sunny side of the house... I am going to try using the dead flowers to reseed in the house this winter...
Thanks Again, Dianne
Hi Dianne, Lovely to hear from you, thank you.
Wasn’t sure if you found the Plant Profile section or not, but just in case ’not’..
Here’s the pages on Esperanza
And Buddleia
These have been added to the site since the above posts were made.