Diplacus rutilus

Identification

Gallery

Description

Santa Susana Monkey Flower, Diplacus rutilus. is a perennial with large 2 inch velvet red flowers that grows in rock outcroppings near seasonal springs in decomposed granite along the north side of Los Angeles. This beauty hates heavy soils or a heavy dosing, drowns easily. Watering and drainage seem to be the key for Santa Susana Monkey Flower. A knock your socks off flower. A hummingbird plant that has been deer proof in all locations. NOT very cold tolerant. Gets beat up in any frost, dies at about 25 deg. F.. This grows in the chaparral with Adenostoma, Heteromeles, Ceanothus species and Trichostema. Customers from the Sierras tell us it has done fine at the mouth of Yosemite Park. When this monkey flower works, it is stunning. No the plant doesn't look like a monkey, someone looked into the throat of the flower and thought she could see the outline of a president. Click here for more about Monkeys in California (Syn. Diplacus longiflorus var. rutilus, or Mimulus longiflorus var. rutilus)