Super fast look at our Sticky Monkey Flower growing up at Islay Creek, California. Mimulus aurantiaca (or Diplacus aurantiaca), known as the Sticky Monkey Bush, Bush Monkey Flower or Orange Bush Monkey Flower.
Sticky monkey flower gets its common name from its long and narrow leaves with surfaces coated in a sticky resin. It is a delightful small evergreen shrub growing 2-4 ft. tall that becomes totally covered with colorful tubular orange flowers. Cultivars available from different nurseries and garden centers offer plants with white, yellow, orange and red flowers.
Sticky monkey flower grows throughout California in sage scrub, chaparral and oak woodland plant communities on rocky slopes, plains and disturbed areas. Within this range it varies in growth habit and flower color, and is highly adapted to heat, sun and summer drought conditions. It is widely planted in restoration projects as well as native and residential gardens throughout the Inland Empire. Its easy to grow and performs best in ornamental gardens for 3-5 years before needing to be replaced.
