California Botanic Garden") and was named and introduced by them in 1962. The seed used to grow this plant was long thought to come from a Fremontodendron californicum but the original lot of seed could have been of hybrid origin and was either collected at the original Rancho Santa Ana Garden site or perhaps at Theodore Payne’s Nursery on Los Feliz Boulevard in Los Angeles.
The name of the genus was named in combination with the Greek word 'dendron', meaning "tree" as a dedication to John Charles Frémont (1813-1890), who first collected Fremontodendron californicum during an 1846 expedition to Alta California. The leaves have a leathery and fuzzy texture reminiscent of flannel that gives these plants their common name. This large evergreen shrub was displayed on the cover of the 40th edition of Sunset Western Garden Book. It is the winner of the Award of Garden Merit from the California Horticultural Society in 1965 and received a First-Class Certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1967. We have grown this great cultivar since 1982 and also grow Fremontodendron mexicanum, Fremontodendron 'Ken Taylor' and Fremontodendron 'Dara's Gold'.
The information displayed on this page about Fremontodendron 'California Glory' is based on the research we conducted about it in our nursery horticultural library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include some of our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
