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
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
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.