Plant of the Month – March 2014
0Bush Monkeyflower
Mimulus aurantiacus (Diplacus longiflorus)
- Plant Form: Evergreen Perennial Sub-Shrub
- Water Use: Very Low
- Mature Size: 2-3’ tall x 3’ wide
Bush Monkeyflower is beautiful in all of its various flower colors, including yellow, orange, coral, and red.
- Exposure: Full Sun, Part Shade
- Bloom Time: Spring, Summer (Mar – August)
- Native to: Southern California below 5,000 feet
- Hardiness: Cold Hardy to 15°F
Bush Monkeyflower is a fast-growing, evergreen, woody sub-shrub prized for its variety of showy flowers. Light green leaves, which become sticky on hot days, contrast nicely with trumpet-shaped yellow, orange, or red flowers (sometimes classified as separate varieties according to color). Many hybrids are bred for new flower colors, but they are generally shorter-lived and not as cold-, drought-, or heat-tolerant as the original species. Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds visit the profuse flowers. Stimulate dense growth by pinching the plant back in summer, and cut it back by one third in winter, after the plant is well-established. Bush Monkeyflower is beautiful in mixed borders, dry washes, on slopes, as an accent in rock gardens, and especially in decorative pots. In the wild, they are often found in rock outcrops, so rock companions will keep them feeling at home.
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