The second in our series of Friday Profiles of plants with “bounce-back ability” is esperanza.
It’s technically known as Texoma stans. In Texas, it’s commonly known as Yellow Bells, but admit it – everyone loves saying the word esperanza!
Remember, my “bounce-back ability” plants may not look so great in winter months because of freezing weather, but they always come back from any damage and are quick to bloom again in the spring.
I’ve always considered esperanza the ultimate plant for extremes in Texas. It’s drought-tolerant and actually blooms best when grown in drier conditions. So, it won’t perform well if it gets too much moisture. It’ll grow, but it won’t produce the yellow blooms we so desire if the roots are consistently wet.
If hit with freezing temperatures, you might find the esperanza leafless or with lots of browning, crunchy leaves. Because of the non-uniformity of the branches, when leafless or brown it might remind you of a ‘graveyard’ plant.
The esperanza always gets a major pruning in early spring. Anything and everything that looks freeze-damaged should be cut back to green wood, and that will encourage it to come roaring back. Feed it every couple of months with any slow-release blooming plant food, rose food or hibiscus food, and the plant will respond. If fed regularly, once an esperanza starts blooming in May, you should see non-stop gorgeous yellow, bell-shaped blooms all the way until the first freeze or frost.
And here’s an inside secret about caring for esperanza: Prune off the long, narrow seed pods whenever you see them. That will produce even more blooms. And, yes, you can try to propagate those seeds, but that’s an article for another day.
While a drought-tolerant plant like this should be planted in full sun or mostly sunny areas, it can do okay in filtered light. Just know that you’ll have fewer blooms, and it might look a bit leggy. It will not grow in shade, period!
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