Other Names:  Orange Bells, Orange Trumpet Flower, Cahauto

Description:

A heat loving, full sun shrub with a tropical appearance, producing clusters of showy orange-yellow flowers with mahogany corolla tubes; sets very few seed pods and flowers throughout the season

Ornamental Features

Orange Mahogany Esperanza features showy clusters of orange trumpet-shaped flowers with yellow overtones and burgundy throats along the branches from mid spring to mid fall, which emerge from distinctive crimson flower buds. Its serrated pointy leaves remain dark green in colour throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Orange Mahogany Esperanza is a multi-stemmed annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Orange Mahogany Esperanza is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Orange Mahogany Esperanza will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 7 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Orange Mahogany Esperanza is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Its large size and upright habit of growth lend it for use as a solitary accent, or in a composition surrounded by smaller plants around the base and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.