General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 8b -9.4 °C (15 °F) to -6.7 °C (20 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 11
Plant Height: 3-20 feet
Plant Spread: 3-20 feet
Leaves: Other: Evergreen above 32 degrees; defoliates with freeze; freezes to ground at 25-27 degrees
Fruit: Other: Remove to increase/enhance flowering
Flowers: Showy
Fragrant
Flower Color: Yellow
Flower Time: Late winter or early spring
Spring
Late spring or early summer
Summer
Late summer or early fall
Fall
Late fall or early winter
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Flowering Tree
Suitable as Annual
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Butterflies
Hummingbirds
Propagation: Seeds: Will not come true from seed
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Needs excellent drainage in pots
Miscellaneous: Monoecious
Awards and Recognitions: Texas Superstar®
RHS AGM

Image
Trade name information:
Trade Name: Gold Star
Cultivar name: 'Lonesp'
Common names
  • Yellow Bells
  • Esperanza
  • Yellow Elder
  • Trumpetbush
  • Ginger-Thomas

Photo Gallery
Location: My Garden - Lake Jackson, TX
Date: 2012-05-07
Bloom and Leaf Form
Location: My Garden - Lake Jackson, TX
Date: 2009-08-25
Multi-Trunked Plant Typical
Location: My Garden - Lake Jackson, TX
Date: 2010-06-08
Bloom Close-Up
Location: Old Town Historic District, San Diego, California
Date: 2015-01-12
Location: Historic Old Town, San Diego, California
Date: 2015-01-12
Location: Old Town Historic District, San Diego, California 
Date: 2015-01-12
Location: Old Town Historic District, San Diego, California  
Date: 2015-01-12
Location: At a local nursery
Date: 2012-04-23
Location: At a local nursery
Date: 2012-04-23
Comments:
  • Posted by krancmm (Texas Gulf Coast - Zone 9b) on May 15, 2012 7:49 PM concerning plant:
    Tecoma stans Gold Star was selected by noted Texas horticulturist, Greg Grant, from a garden in San Antonio, TX. It's intermediate between the west Texas Tecoma stans angustata and the tropical Tecoma stans stans. Unlike either of its parents or other Tecoma stans subspecies, Gold Star blooms when very young and never stops until cold weather hits. Sun-poof golden yellow flower clusters are so plentiful that they often weigh down branchlets. The sweet fragrance, while not perfuming a whole neighborhood, is strong enough to be noticeable when walking past.

    It makes a fine container annual in the north given sun and heat, and becomes a 15' tall multi-stemmed tree where temperatures don't drop much below freezing. A few nights of 25° knocked a 12+' tree right to the roots, but by the following May it was 4' tall and pumping out blooms.

    Requirements are few: sun, heat, well-drained soil in the neutral to alkaline range. It's pest resistant too. Best and longest flowering occurs if the prolific seed pods are removed (bees are wild about this plant). Some gardeners report self-seeding; others have never seen a seedling. As this is a hybrid, the seeds would not come true.

    All in all, an almost perfect plant.

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