Cenizo

 In
Cenizo

Leucophyllum frutescens
Leucophyllum frutescens
Texas Sage, Texas Ranger, Texas Lilac, Barometer Bush, Senisa
Northern Mexico and southwestern U.S.; south Texas.
5

7 feet
5

10 feet
  • Texas
  • Full Sun
  • Low
  • Deer Resistant
  • Evergreen
  • Flowering
  • Attracts Pollinators
  • Birds
  • Hummingbirds

About This Plant

Full sun (shade makes it grow leggy). Cenizo is evergreen, with silvery foliage covered with tiny dusty hairs. Sweet-scented pink flowers appear briefly after rain events in summer and fall.

Texas Sage is another name for the same plant; cenizo (“ashen”) is a Spanish reference to the silvery leaf color. Cenizo tolerates poor soil, full sun, and drought, and thrives with or without rain. It is among the most drought-tolerant of all large landscape shrubs and makes a useful standard by which others can be measured. In full sun, it keeps a much denser form than Chinese holly, ligustrum, photinia, xylosma, and other upright non-native evergreens, without the need for constant hedging.

Maintenance

Avoid overwatering or fertilizing to prevent cotton root rot. Mild hedging or tip pruning in spring and early summer is usually enough to preserve a dense form; avoid shearing. To restart leggy plants every few years, cut all the way to the ground in late spring; plants normally regain full size by late summer.

Features

Plant Type:
Small Shrub
Size:
5-7' H, 5-10' W
Sunlight Requirements:
Full Sun
Soil Types:
Clay, Sandy, Thin
Wildlife:
Bees, Birds, Butterflies, Butterfly Larvae, Hummingbirds, Pollinators
Flower Color:
Lavender, Pink, Purple
Bloom Time:
March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Freeze Hardy:
Yes
Invasive:
No
Caution:
None
Coupon Eligible:

This plant goes well with

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Fragrant cenizo leaves and flowers.