Tecoma stans Gold Star esperanza with the Texas Superstar label is a spectacular, heat-tolerant Texas native plant that will produce masses of golden yellow flowers all summer long. This small shrub (3 to 5 feet tall and wide) will shower your landscape or patio garden with beautiful yellow trumpet-shaped flowers from early summer to frost.
Tecoma stans Gold Star was carefully selected from a private garden in San Antonio by Smith County Horticulturist Greg Grant. This particular cultivar was chosen and achieved Superstar status in 1999 in part because it was the earliest bloomer of the many contenders tested. Its early springtime show as a very young plant made it a winner in the nursery trade because it was showy at marketing time. This Superstar will be a winner in your landscape and keep performing all summer, unlike many plants that look their best when we buy them and fail to flourish when we get them home.
Watch for this Texas Superstar this spring, and add it to your landscape or container garden. It attracts pollinators and provides striking yellow flowers on a background of dark green foliage. It loves the heat and blooms best in sites that receive full sun, but will perform well with morning sun and afternoon shade. Removing seed pods and deadheading will keep the plant tidy and encourage flowering, but this isn’t necessary for a successful season of blooms, bees and butterflies.
“The Texas Superstar program rated it as highly pest resistant, healthy and suitable for mass plantings or container use,” said Dougles F. Welsh, professor and landscape horticulturist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. “This plant is capable of growing in many soil ranges, from the slightly acidic to alkaline.”