Esperanza

Tecoma stans

Hills guide picknative · Hill Countrysold locally

Esperanza is a perennial native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 4–8 ft tall and 4–6 ft wide. It wants full sun and low to medium water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Flowers are yellow. Good for butterflies and hummingbirds.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Upright shrubby perennial with bright green compound leaves and large clusters of golden trumpet flowers all summer.

Why it works here

Blooms relentlessly through the worst heat and draws hummingbirds. Yellow that reads from across a yard.

Watch out

Freezes to the ground most winters — cut it back and it returns. Seedpods are untidy; shear them off to extend bloom.

The facts

9 sources

Type: Perennial
Sun: Full sun (6+ hrs)
Water: Low to medium
Height: 4–8 ft
Spread: 4–6 ft
Bloom: Yellow
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on clay, dry, limestone, loam, well drained
Deer: Moderate — deer may browse it, especially new growth. New growth and flowers browsed in dry years.
Wildlife: Supports butterflies and hummingbirds

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in this EPA Level IV ecoregion in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones Canyonlands

7 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Sold at local nurseries. Confirmed in stock at a Central Texas grower in these sizes:

2.5–4.5 inch pots1, 2 gallon

From the growers we read so far — a short list, not the whole trade. Call ahead.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.