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Common Name:

Texas Sage, Cenizo, or Texas Ranger

Scientific Name:

Leucophyllum frutescens

Family Name:

Scrophulariaceae

Description:

Texas Sage is perhaps the most widely planted of the native Trans Pecos plants in landscapes outside that region. Valued for its outstanding gray-green to siver-gray foliage and purple-pink flowers, it is suprisingly adapted to useage in much of the southern two thirds of Texas. A good semi-evergreen shrub with summer interest. Benefits from occasional pruning to enhance canopy density.

Plant Habit or Use:

Medium shrub, large shrub

Exposure:

sun

Flower Color:

Purple-pink, pink, or occasionally white, most profusely borne after summer rains

Blooming Period:

Spring, summer, fall

Fruit Characteristics:

Capsule, not important

Height:

4 ft to 8 ft (10 ft)

Width:

4 ft to 6 ft

Firewise Index

9.00
Explanation of the Firewise Index numerical value

USDA Hardiness Zones:

8, 9, 10

Regions that intersect these hardiness zones:
Region A - Panhandle and High Plains• Region B - North and Central Texas• Region C - Northeast and East Texas• Region D - West Texas• Region E - Upper Rio Grande• Region F - Hill Country and Central Coast• Region G - Southeast Texas• Region H - Rio Grande Valley
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Click image for enlarged map of USDA Hardiness Zones

Additional Comments:

Tolerates most soils as long as they are well drained. Frequently killed by kindness (over irrigation). Not particularly well adapted to humid regions, best in drier atmospheric regions. Tends to become leggy with age.
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A Special Note about Cool Season Annuals

Cool season annuals typically are planted in the fall or early winter and flower in early spring under moderate temperatures. This group of plant materials includes: pansies, snapdragons, violas, dianthus, flowering cabbage/kale, etc. Because cool season annuals flower in the spring when conditions are mild, most have limited heat tolerance.

As a result cool season annuals do not receive a high Earth–Kind® index despite their outstanding landscape qualities.