Walton's Plant Library

Other Names:  Rock Brush, Bee Brush, Vara Dulce

Description:

An open, airy shrub that produces beautiful, fragrant spikes of white flowers intermittently, from spring to fall, with the heaviest blooming in late summer; fine, lacy foliage is also attractive; may be pruned into a small tree; heat and drought tolerant

Ornamental Features

Texas Kidneywood features showy spikes of fragrant white flowers rising above the foliage from mid spring to early fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. It has attractive forest green deciduous foliage which emerges light green in spring. The tiny fragrant oval pinnately compound leaves are highly ornamental but do not develop any appreciable fall color. The fruits are showy brown pods displayed from early to late fall.

Landscape Attributes

Texas Kidneywood is an open multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a more or less rounded form. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Texas Kidneywood is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Texas Kidneywood will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for poor, alkaline soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This species is native to parts of North America..

Texas Kidneywood makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.