A Texas sage selection with deep green leaves instead of the usual gray, and rose-purple flowers that flush after summer rains. It makes a tough, low-water screen or backdrop that stays green year-round.
Living with it in the Phoenix Valley
Watering
Follow the shrub schedule in our Landscape Care guide, then keep it lean. Too much water or poor drainage leads to rank, leggy growth and root problems. Skip extra water in winter.
Pruning
Avoid frequent shearing, which cuts off flowers and leaves a woody, hollow shell. Instead, thin and cut back selectively once or twice in spring or early summer. Plant it where it has room to reach full size.
Bloom
Flowering is set off by humidity, so the biggest shows come with monsoon storms. Bloom may skip a dry stretch entirely.
How our designers use it
Informal screen
Planted in a loose row, it hides walls and views without the look of a clipped hedge.
Green backdrop
The dark foliage sets off lighter plants in front of it, such as yellow-flowering perennials, agaves and desert spoon.
Mixed with silver sages
Our designers like it next to gray Texas sages for contrast in leaf color while keeping the same desert character.
Good to know
Around the pool
No thorns and light litter. Bloom flushes draw bees for a few days at a time, so give it a little space from the water’s edge.
