Drought Tolerant and Beautiful: Mexican Bush Sage
If you like colorful blooms that attract butterflies and hummingbirds then you’ll want to take a close look at this drought-tolerant beauty.
Mexican bush sage has lovely grey-green foliage, white stems, and velvety spikes of purple.
It thrives in arid climates and provides glorious color from spring through fall.
You may be surprised to find that the actual flowers aren’t actually purple – they are white.
Learn more about this drought-tolerant beauty and why you’ll want to add it to your garden in my latest article for Houzz.com.
Goodbye Arizona…Hello Michigan!
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
I'm trying to grow this for the first time this year.
I planted three small (approx. quart-size) plants in the spring in varying amounts of sun and shade.
The one that gets the most sun is blooming now, although parts of the plant (certain stems) have died off.
One in full morning sun and afternoon shade is probably doing the best, although it is not blooming yet.
The one that gets the most shade (beneath a crape myrtle tree) looks healthy, but is only ~ 1/3 the size of the others.
Any ideas on why I had the dieback on the one plant?
I'm not sure these will be hardy in my zone (6/7) but I look forward to seeing whether they come back next year. Probably depends as to whether or not we have a harsh winter like we did the last two years…
(If they do survive, do you recommend a hard prune in autumn, winter or early spring?)
S. leucantha is one of my favorite sages. I like the solid purple better than the purple bracts with white. It isn't ready to bloom here. Yet.
Hi Aaron,
I suspect that the branch dieback has to do with drainage…they need well-drained soil to grow their best.
I recommend cutting them back severely in spring, once the danger of freezing temps have passed. You can lightly prune them as needed in summer.
I hope this helps. I'd love to hear if they come back next spring!
Hi Noelle,
Ah, the dreaded poor-drainage problem strikes again.
You're probably right. I lost a bunch of Hyssopus officinalis (true hyssop) in the same spot and (I think) for the same reason.
Nonetheless, I'll let you know if any or all of my Mexican sages return next year!
Thanks for the feedback 🙂