What it is
Wax Myrtle (Morella cerifera) is in the Myricaceae (Bayberry) family. The Gulf Coast's workhorse evergreen screen: fragrant bayberry foliage, waxy berries for candles, bird habitat, and it even fixes its own nitrogen.
How to grow it
It wants full sun to part shade, water it adaptable - wet or dry, and give it any; tolerates poor soil soil. Target a soil pH around 5.0-7.5. Space plants about 6-10 ft apart. Expect roughly Fast - 2-3 ft/year. Hardy native evergreen.
How it's used
Wax Myrtle is used: leaves as a bay-like seasoning; berry wax for candles.
🔎 How to identify it
- Aromatic narrow olive-green leaves, crushed smell of bayberry
- Clusters of tiny gray-blue waxy berries on female plants
- Multi-trunked, dense evergreen habit
Edibility
How to grow & propagate wax myrtle
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate wax myrtle
Wax Myrtle comes up from seed and, once it's a few years old, can be lifted and divided in cool weather to make more plants and keep the clump vigorous.
Growing wax myrtle in Texas
Give it full sun to part shade and any; tolerates poor soil soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Because it's a perennial, the work is mostly up front. Get it sited and established and it comes back on its own year after year — one of the best returns on effort in the whole garden.
Keep moisture even, especially while it's young — deep, less-frequent soaks build better roots than a daily sprinkle.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly fast - 2-3 ft/year before you're harvesting. The part you're after: leaves (seasoning, remove before serving).
Making more for free
If you want more, let your healthiest plants mature fully and collect the seed once it's dry on the plant — then store it somewhere cool, dark, and dry until next season.
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.