Leucophyllum langmaniae

Leucophyllum langmaniae, sometimes referred to as Rio Bravo Sage, is a bush for arid climate and soil that excels in our Mediterranean region's waterless gardens. It forms a beautiful bush with a naturally dense and slightly spreading habit and provides a magnificent flowering at the end of summer or beginning of autumn, with the return of rains. This rebirth accompanies that of the dry garden, which often welcomes autumn in grand style, like a second spring. It is an ideal companion for garrigue plants that have the same cultivation requirements. You will plant it in the rockery, on a slope, in a raised bed, but also in a large border along a path.

The Leucophyllum langmaniae is a bush from the Scrophulariaceae family. It is native to northern Mexico, specifically the Chihuahua desert where it grows in limestone soil. It is a plant very well adapted to water scarcity, coastal regions and limestone soils, which still tolerates cold quite well under good cultivation conditions (down to -10/-12°C (14/10.4 °F) at peak). The Rio Bravo Sage quickly forms a bush about 90 cm (35.4 in) high and 1 m (3 ft 4 in) wide. Its whitish, fairly flexible stems bear a dense, velvety, olive-green-grey foliage that persists in winter if there is no frost. The leaves are small, about 2.5 cm (1 in) long, oblong, slightly undulate, covered with a fine down. The flowering often takes place in 2 or 3 successive waves, from late August to late October. It is triggered by a supply of water following a long dry and hot period and will be all the more abundant as the summer has been dry. On the other hand, in regions where it regularly rains in summer, flowering is random. The small flowers are born in the axil of the leaves, they are small irregular corollas, villous, with petals fused at the base, measuring 2 to 3 cm (0.8 to 1.2 in), of a fairly bright rose-mauve colour. Its flowers are more mauve than those of its close relative, the Leucophyllum frutescens. The flowering of this bush attracts pollinating insects. Its root system secretes substances that inhibit the germination and growth of weeds.

The Leucophyllum langmaniae is a plant perfectly adapted to drought and of exceptional beauty at the end of the season: it has a solid temperament and robustness to any test if the conditions suit it. It is used in beds, in rockeries, on a slope, but also as a low hedge to border a path for example. Create a garrigue type bed with staggered flowering by mixing the foliage and scents of lavenders (blue, white, pink), rosemary (creeping or erect), Atriplex, oregano, cistus, nepetas, euphorbia for dry soils (E.characias, E. cyparissias), creeping ceanothus. Its association with Leucophyllum frutescens, the Polygala myrtifolia, the Teucrium fruticans Azureum and the evergreen ceanothus Automnal Blue which flower at the end of summer in dry gardens, is very successful.