Plant in part to full sun in a well-drained soil and give occasional irrigation – not as drought tolerant as some other Monkeyflowers that come from hotter, drier locales, but still tolerant of going a long time between watering, especially in coastal gardens. Hardy to around 15-20° F. A light pruning after flowering helps tidy up and shape this plant. A great plant for dry shade and like other Monkeyflowers this plant is an excellent habitat and nectar plant that attracts bees and hummingbirds. Additionally, the Checkerspot Butterfly will lay eggs on the foliage of this plant.

This plant was selected from the Big Sur area in the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. The name Esselen comes from the name for the tribe of indigenous native people who inhabited the central Big Sur coast and extended over the Santa Lucia and Gabilan ranges to the edge of the Salinas Valley. The species Mimulus bifidus, including the subspecies fasciculatus, which this plant likely would have originally been described as is also called the Prostrate Monkey flower.

This taxon is currently Diplacus aurantiacus var. grandiflorus in the newest treatment of the Jepson Manual and Jepson Flora project. In the newest treatment of the tribe Mimuleae, which includes Diplacus, Mimulus, and Mimetanthe, these plants have been removed from the Figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, and placed with the genus Phryma (previously included in Verbenaceae) into the new family Phrymaceae. The woody species of Mimulus that are the parents of most of the hybrids have been separated into the genus Diplacus in the past, then gone back to Mimulus, but in the current treatment in the UC Berkeley Jepson eFlora all of the woody Mimulus are back in the genus Diplacus. This change has not been accepted by all and not to cause undo confusion for our customers and staff, we continue to use the name Mimulus until such time as this name change is more widely known. The original generic name is from the Latin word 'mimus' meaning "mimic actor" that is derived from the Greek word 'mimos' that means means "imitator" and references the flowers that look like painted faces. The name Diplacus comes from the Greek words 'di' meaning "two" or "double" and 'plax' or 'plakos' meaning "a flat round plate", "tablet" or "broad surface" in reference to the manner in with the fruit capsule splits. We grew and sold this cultivar in 2013 and 2014. 

The information about Mimulus bifidus 'Esselen' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.