A rounded, airy desert shrub with small gray-green leaves and crinkled white flowers from spring into fall. It takes full sun, reflected heat and very little water, and it softens a landscape with a loose, natural shape.
Living with it in the Phoenix Valley
Watering
Follow the shrub schedule in our Landscape Care guide while it establishes. As a desert plant, it should be kept lean after that. Less water means a smaller plant, which is the best way to control its size.
Pruning
Do not shear it. Shearing ruins its open, cascading form and cuts off the flowers. A light heading back of the longest stems in late winter is enough to thicken it up.
Drought and cold
In a long dry spell or a hard freeze it may drop some leaves, then leafs out again with water and warmth.
How our designers use it
Informal screens
Planted in a loose row, it screens walls and views with soft gray-green foliage and white flowers.
Color contrast
Its gray-green leaves set off darker green shrubs and the bold forms of agaves and yuccas.
Hot, reflected sites
It handles the heat along west walls, driveways and open desert edges where softer shrubs struggle.
Good to know
Around the pool
Litter is low and there are no thorns. Give it room, since it spreads wider than it is tall and should not be sheared to fit a tight space.
