The Bells Of Summer

Tecoma stans Yellow Bells

Yellow Bells is a great shrub for USDA Zones 8-11. It is a popular Arizona landscape starter shrub with new homeowners. It is fast growing, heat resistant, and blooms from spring to late fall, with a break during the periods of extreme Arizona heat. It is supposed to be hardy to 10°F, but it did freeze to the ground during our 2006 cold snap. Even after hard freezes, it quickly comes back in very early spring and can reach six feet high in one season. Many local homeowners train this shrub into a beautiful small tree. It reaches about 12 feet high with a spread of about six feet. It produces a moderate amount of dried flower litter, along with long bean pods that dry and drop in early summer.

This shrub is also called Yellow Trumpet Flower, Esperanza, and Yellow Elder.

Tecoma 'Orange Jubilee'

Tecoma 'Orange Jubilee' is actually more popular in Arizona than Yellow Bells. It is a hybrid of Tecoma stans and Tecoma alata, and it's larger than Yellow Bells. It too can be trained into a small tree, but most folks leave it in its natural shape. It can grow to 12 feet tall in one season, and if there's no frost, heights of 15 feet are possible. Just as Yellow Bells, it has a moderate amount of litter. It blooms all year, even in the intense heat of summer.

This is not a shrub for small gardens. It has a spread of about six to eight feet. Like Yellow Bells, it needs little water once established. Tecoma 'Orange Jubilee' is also sold as Tecoma 'Burnt Out', or Orange Bells.