Mexican Bush Sage

Salvia leucantha

Lamiaceae (Mint)

Velvety purple-and-white flower spikes in fall, swarmed by bees and butterflies. Drought-tough once set.

Drought-toughFull sunPollinatorLow waterPerennial

Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek

Sun

Full sun

Water

Low

Soil

Well-drained

pH

6.0–7.5

Hardiness

Tender native-adjacent perennial

Height

3–4 ft

Spacing

3 ft

Days to harvest

Established

What it is

Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) is in the Lamiaceae (Mint) family. Velvety purple-and-white flower spikes in fall, swarmed by bees and butterflies. Drought-tough once set.

How to grow it

It wants full sun, water it low, and give it well-drained soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–7.5. Space plants about 3 ft apart. Expect roughly Established. Tender native-adjacent perennial.

How it's used

Mexican Bush Sage is used: ornamental; pollinator.

🔎 How to identify it

Narrow gray-green leaves
Fuzzy purple flower spikes
Mounding habit

Not for eating

Grown for the garden, soil, or pollinators — not as food.

🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.