TECOMA stans ( BIGNONIA s.)

Refined shrub, perennial and semi-deciduous, with a compact, globular habit belonging to the Bignoniaceae family and native to subtropical areas between North and South America. Lignified and well branched at the base, it has a rapid growth, managing to grow up to 3-4 m tall and large in a short time. The stems, woody, rigid, erect but slightly arched towards the outside at the top, give the plant a rounded and regular appearance. The elegant compound leaves, thin, smooth and hairless, imparipinnate, formed by a showy petiole and three, five or seven ovate leaflets with serrated margins and acute apexes are intense green and, with the exception of regions particularly favored by the climate, tend partially to fall in autumn. From the beginning of summer and until late autumn, showy hemispherical inflorescences appear on the apical portions of the branches consisting of numerous and large golden yellow trumpets, slightly odorous and often visited by bees, butterflies and insects in general: if fertilized they follow copious pods rich in winged seeds, responsible for an easy self-dissemination of the plant in nature.

It prefers sheltered and sunny positions (it can grow well even in partial shade, but the flowering becomes less rich) and soils rich in nutrients and deep; it tolerates minimum winter temperatures only a few degrees below zero and partially bears the presence of brackish sea winds in the coastal regions. It can face even long periods of drought, although constant water supplies during the driest periods of the year can favor a more abundant flowering. When spring awakens, it can be pruned which, eliminating dry, broken or out of place branches and shortening all the stems by 1/3, aims to give the plant a shape as regular and spherical as possible. Although it adapts very well to life on hanging gardens in large pots and containers, it is in the open ground that it manages to express at its best its decorative potential. Both alone as absolute queen of a corner of our garden, and in more specimens to create a decidedly captivating green barrier, it is capable of attracting the attention with its showy flowering even of the most distracted visitor.