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Fremontodendron 'Dara's Gold' (Dara's Flannelbush ) - This beautiful native cultivar is smaller than all other flannel bushes that we grow. It forms a low mounding bush reaching only to 3 feet tal by 6 to 8 feet wide with bright shiny green leaves. From late winter through early summer (and sometimes late into fall) appear a good display of 2 to 2 1/2 inch wide yellow cup-shaped flowers that lack the darker orange on the outside of the petals that most other flannel bushes have.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil with no supplemental irrigation required once established. Summer irrigation will initially speed growth on this plant but will also shorten its lifespan so best not to water when in doubt but this selection seems a bit more forgiving in this respect compared to other cultivars. Plants in containers will need careful, but regular watering. It is frost hardy to at least 10°F and useful in USDA zone 8 and above (some report it hardier and useful down to zone 7). A great plant for planting on a slope or on other well-drained sites and its smaller size and its better garden tolerance than other cultivars makes is useful in gardens as well as in large pots. As with all of the flannel bushes, it has irritating stellate hairs on the leaves and stems that can can cause skin and eye irritation and for this reason should also be situated where it will not be brushed against. Its flowers are attractive to beneficial insects, bees and butterflies.
This is a Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Plant Introduction that resulted from a cross between Fremontodendron californicum ssp. decumbens and Fremontodendron mexicanum that was made by Dara Emery in 1970 (SBBG#70-215). This plant had been growing in the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden along the Porter trail for many years and finally in 2002 it was named and released after several nurseries, including San Marcos Growers, evaluated its performance, both in containers and planted in the ground. More information on this plant can be found on the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden's Fremontodendron 'Dara's Gold' Plant Introduction Page and in an article by Carol Bornstein in Pacific Horticulture titled Fremontodendron mexicanum, Fremontodendron 'Ken Taylor' and Fremontodendron 'California Glory'.
This information about Fremontodendron 'Dara's Gold' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate 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 that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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