Esperanza

Esperanza or "yellow bells" begins its long period of bloom as early as late March. The plant loves the heat and full sun is a necessity to produce blooms. The yellow, tubular flowers appear in several cycles if the seeds are allowed to form. Remove seed pods for quicker blooming cycles. Gardeners who remove spent blooms are rewarded with continuous color until cold weather arrives. The flowers smell like honey and attract butterflies . If there is a freeze the stems die back to the roots and then grow to 7 or 8 feet tall. In sheltered locations it can become a small tree. Trimming will result in a bush and it may be trained to grow as a standard.