Fremontodendron
Fremontodendron californicum
The fine hairs on its stems and leaves irritate skin, so this is one to place well back from paths and doorways.
- Type
- Shrub · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Foliage color
- Green
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Feeding
- Rose & flower
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- April
- Mar–Mar Bud Break
- Mar–Apr Spring Growth
- Apr–Jul Flowering
- Jul–Dec Growing
- Dec–Dec Winter Dormancy
- Jan–Mar Winter Dormancy
- Plant spacing
- 13 ft 1 in
- In-row spacing
- 13 ft 1 in
- Between rows
- 16 ft 5 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
- Root system
- Woody, with a taproot it keeps
- Working depth
- 24 in–5 ft
- Can reach
- 10 ft down where the soil allows
- Spread
- 20–33 ft across, about 1.5–2.5× the width of the plant
It anchors downwards as well as sideways, which is what lets it stand in a gale and what makes it hate being moved. Plant it small: past a few years in the ground a taprooted tree transplants badly, and often not at all.
It comes from dry western hillsides and dies of summer water at the crown more often than of anything else. Plant it high, water it in its first year only, and never mulch against the stem.
The habit is Fremontodendron’s own; the figures are what that habit usually comes to at this size, not a measurement of this species. Roots follow the soil either way: a compacted pan, a high water table or heavy clay stops them well short of any of it, and deep open ground lets them go further.
- Root & crown rot Root rot where it is overwatered or the site has poor drainage
- Frost damage Frost damage to the young growth
- Stellate hairs on the stems and leaves that irritate skin
Shrubs, like this one.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com