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Photo Credit: Dr. David L. Morgan

‘Compacta’ ceniza is a 5-foot-tall, brilliantly colored shrub.

Ceniza (Leucophyllum frutescens). If it’s a tough, drought-tolerant shrub you’re looking for, look no further than this “sage” of the West that predicts rainfall and colors the landscape with purple flowers.

Aptly named, ceniza (Spanish for “ash”) is a gray-leaved plant that thrives in dry climates in full sun, where temperatures commonly reach the scorch level. (Old-timers call it barometer bush, reckoning that its flowering is a sure sign of rain.) It’s much loved in the Southwest, where it can be found growing – and flowering – in masses of small, purple flowers nearly year-round, often producing the only cheerful color in rocky, dry hills and over caliche limestone deposits.

While it’s historically been used as a hedge to protect ranch houses from dust storms and wandering wildlife, in recent years ceniza’s been rediscovered by the nursery trade. (New colors have been discovered, too.) And we’ve now got dwarf cultivars, like the popular, floriferous ‘Compacta’, which only reaches 5 feet tall, as opposed to the 8-foot mature species.

A couple of cautions when planting ceniza in your garden: First, be sure to stick it in full sun, or it’ll lean toward the light and become leggy and disfigured. Second, don’t plant it in areas where drainage is a problem. In a low area, consider planting it in a raised bed away from garden sprinklers. And don’t be surprised or worry if your ceniza loses its leaves in a cold winter – they’ll return in spring. (The plant’s hardy to Zone 8 – maybe a little higher if protected.) Though soft new leaves are favored by wildlife, ceniza isn’t heavily browsed and has no serious insect pests or diseases in nature.