It does best in sun or light shade in a well-drained soil and is drought tolerant. It will take temperatures down to about 12 to 15 degrees F and deer seem to mostly leave this plant alone. The flowering plants with their wonderful face like flowers are quite beautiful when in full bloom and are also attractive to hummingbirds. Often the plants can look a bit haggard later when not in bloom, so are best in areas where they can be enjoyed from a distance and left to dry out mid-summer until rejuvenated by fall and winter rains. Some summer shade helps prolong flowering and foliage as does a spritz of water, but regular irrigation through summer usually shortens the plants life.

Sticky Monkeyflower is native to southwestern North America from southwestern Oregon south through most of California. In Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties it integrates with the Southern Sticky monkey-flower, Mimulus longiflorus which ranges further south into Baja California.

In the newest treatment of the tribe Mimuleae, which includes Diplacus, Mimulus, and Mimetanthe, these plants have been removed from the Figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, and placed with the genus Phryma (previously included in Verbenaceae) into the new family Phrymaceae. The woody species of Mimulus that are the parents of most of the hybrids have been separated into the genus Diplacus in the past, then gone back to Mimulus, but in the current treatment in the UC Berkeley Jepson eFlora all of the woody Mimulus are back in the genus Diplacus. So not to cause undo confusion for our customers and staff, we continue to use the name Mimulus until such time as this name change is more widely known. The original generic name Mimulus is from the Latin word 'mimus' meaning "mimic actor" that is derived from the Greek word 'mimos' that means means "imitator" and references the flowers that look like painted faces. The name Diplacus comes from the Greek words 'di' meaning "two" or "double" and 'plax' or 'plakos' meaning "a flat round plate", "tablet" or "broad surface" in reference to the manner in with the fruit capsule splits. The specific epithet in the Latin word for orange in reference to the flower color. 

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