This plant does best in full sun with no supplementary water and is reliably hardy to about 15° F and perhaps as low as 10° F. The fuzz on the leaves can be very irritating to the skin, and protection should be worn for the eyes if a person needs to work with this plant.

Fremontodendron mexicanum is rare and endangared in it natural habit which extends from the Laguna mountains of southern San Diego County south into northern Baja California where it can be found within the chaparral commmunity as well as among Tecate cypress trees (Hesperocyparis forbsii) in the coniferous forest. The name of the genus was named in combination with the Greek word 'dendron', meaning "tree", as a dedication to John Charles Frémont (1813-1890) who first collected Fremontodendron californicum during an 1846 expedition to Alta California. It was granted the Award of Merit (precurser to the Award of Garden Merit) from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1927. We have grown this great cultivar since 1982 and also grow Fremontodendron 'California Glory', Fremontodendron 'Ken Taylor' and Fremontodendron 'Dara's Gold'. 

The information about Fremontodendron mexicanum that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.