The name “barometer bush” comes from the flowering that appears after high soil moisture or humidity from rain in late summer into the fall season. You’ll see them around town in xeriscapes and along highways and in commercial landscapes. At maturity, they can be up to 8 feet tall and wide. It grows best in full sun (4 to 6 hours daily), very well drained alkaline soil and little to no fertilization. It will retain most of its leaves through the winter as it is hardy to 5 degrees F.

Texas purple sage’s native range is from Northern Mexico through the Rio Grande Plains and Trans-Pecos, and somewhat in the Western Edwards Plateau into New Mexico. Growing “in the wild,” you’ll see it on rocky caliche slopes and stony, calcareous soils. It has been used as an herbal tea to treat chills and fever, to provide forage for cattle, and nesting places for birds.

In 2005, the 79^th Legislature designated the Texas purple sage as the official State Native Shrub of Texas. One of the declarations in the resolution states: “Texas purple sage has been described as a plant that can face droughts, freezes, high winds, salt spray, hungry deer and blazing heat and keep right on performing beautifully, and such fortitude is a quality highly admired in the Lone Star State….”

Sounds perfect for my backyard.