FREMONTODENDRON. Flannel bush. Showy native shrubs and small trees, generally too large for the home garden, but amenable to some restraint through pruning. They have stout, sometimes gawky branches, fuzzy lobed leaves, and beautiful 2-4" blossoms varying in color from lemon yellow to burnt orange. They demand sun, very well drained soil, and little or no watering when established. They are highly susceptible to a canker-like disease favored by moist conditions. Hardy to 15^oF or less.

‘California Glory’. The most popular of a trio of hybrids introduced by Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (another is ‘Pacific Sunset’, listed below). It grows in a broad V to 20-30’ if unpruned, though it can be restrained by early and frequent pruning. By all means avoid making cuts into old, heavy stems, which are slow to heal. In spring and early summer it bears a wealth of large, cupped, lemon yellow blossoms. Spectacular alone or in combination with the larger ceanothus.

californicum. We are growing seedlings of this species, just to see what may turn up. The plants are generally arching in habit, with nearly horizontal side branches and pale greyish bark. The leaf blades are mostly around 2" long, furry on both surfaces. Flowers are smaller than those of the more familiar hybrids, but quite showy. Most are colored bright yellow. They tend to be borne in a short, intense burst. F. mexicanum is similar but typically a little taller, with more deeply lobed leaves. It tends to carry fewer flowers at a time, but spreads them over a longer season than F. californicum.

mexicanum. This is the second species used in the spectacular Rancho Santa Ana hybrids, barely entering California in southern San Diego County. It grows generally more erect than F. californicum, to 10-20’. The leaves are up to 3" long and often deeply lobed, deep green above and covered with reddish brown hairs beneath. The flowers are up to 3" broad, usually darker than those of californicum and often shaded with orange on the backs of the segments. They are scattered over several weeks in spring and summer, rather than in one great burst. It is decidedly more tender to cold than californicum.

‘Pacific Sunset’. An outstanding hybrid by the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Like ‘California Glory’, above, it grows upright to as much as 30’. It carries deep golden yellow 3-4" blossoms all along the stems in spring, or well into summer on actively growing plants. It seems to be the most resistant to disease of the Rancho Santa Ana hybrid trio.