Could Texas Sage be any prettier!

These plants may be finishing their bloom cycle by the time this hits the digital presses and your e-mail this Thursday evening, but I’m never going to forget the joy that raced through my soul when we turned that corner at Headquarters and Parkwood Monday. I took photos. Then we went back Tuesday and I took many more.

I wasn’t even sure it was Texas sage, Ceniza, my old pal from Southwest Texas that also goes by the name of “barometer bush” because it bursts into bloom just a day or two after a summer downpour. It looked like some kind of hybrid fall aster. I knew it wasn’t that, but until we got closer, I wasn’t sure I was even on Planet Earth.

Blue isn’t a common color in fall, and this baby was blue. Not lavender like my photos kinda show, and not pink either. As I said, no photo I took from any angle truly did that color fair justice.

I sent my best photos to a highly respected wholesale nurseryman to ask his confirmation as to the variety. The name he sent back wasn’t a new variety: Green Cloud. I’ve seen Green Cloud for years, but I’d never seen it look like this. When I researched it online there was more than one comment about its having a distinctly blue cast. (No kidding!)

Part of that could have been due to the fact that the very heavy bloom came at a slightly cooler time last weekend and starting out this week. Colors tend to shift slightly and intensify as it turns cool. And the skies were very bright and clear – no dust and no haze. That made a difference as well.

All that said, I thought this might be a good time to let you know a little more about this great improved selection of a Texas native shrub.

What you’ll want to know…
Common name: ‘Green Cloud’ Texas sage

Scientific name: Leucophyllum frutescens ‘Green Cloud’ (Cenizo, Ceniza)

Plant Family: Scrophulariaceae

Native home: Southwest Texas and Mexico

Year introduced into nursery trade: early 1960s

Hardiness Zone: 7-10 for this more cold-hardy cultivar

Sun or Shade: Full sun

Evergreen or Deciduous: Evergreen with pubescent gray/green foliage

Mature height/width: 5-8 ft. tall, 5-6 ft. wide

Soil needs: Very adapting but requires good drainage

Water needs: Grows and blooms best with summertime irrigation but tolerant of drought

Bloom season: Late spring into early fall – 1-3 days after rain or change in barometric pressures

Best landscape uses: Shrub groupings against dark contrasts