How do you care for Esperanza plants in Texas?
Esperanza is drought-tolerant once established, but performs best with moderate water. Irrigate regularly, every week to 10 days, allowing plants to dry out between waterings. Plants will need more frequent watering during extreme heat and prolonged dry spells. The first winter, however, can be stressful or even fatal to esperanzas. That is why they should be planted in the spring, to have many months of root growth before the first hard freeze.If your winters are frost free, wait until midwinter to cut back the branches. This will encourage new growth and flowering in the spring. Esperanza flowers appear on new spring growth, so be careful not to prune in the spring when flower buds are forming.The main time for pruning esperanza plants is late winter, after all blooming has stopped. Esperanzas are not frost hardy, and they will die back if temperatures drop below freezing. The roots are generally reliably hardy down to zone 8, however.
How to make Esperanza bushy?
Esperanza grows into a tall bush. As the plant grows, prune the base of the bush into two or three main stems and keep shoots trimmed from lower 36” of plant. Many upper branches will grow from this solid base, creating a neat, upright appearance. Esperanza can be propagated from cuttings of semi-hardwood growth taken in early summer.