Black Dalea
Dalea frutescensBlack Dalea is a shrub native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–3 ft tall and 3 ft wide. It wants full sun and very low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms purple in Jul–Oct. Deer rarely browse it. Good for butterflies.
Will it grow in your yard?
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From our guide
Village of the HillsLow airy shrub with tiny bright green leaflets and rose-purple flower clusters in late summer and fall.
Why it works here
Blooms in the worst heat of the year on pure limestone with no irrigation. Pollinators cover it.
Watch out
Needs excellent drainage. Cut back hard in late winter or it gets woody and open.
The facts
6 sources- Type
- Shrub
- Sun
- Full sun (6+ hrs)
- Water
- Very low
- Height
- 1–3 ft
- Spread
- 3 ft
- Bloom
- Jul–Oct · purple
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Soil
- Takes caliche and clay · recorded on dry, gravelly, limestone
- Deer
- High — deer rarely browse it. Rarely browsed
- Wildlife
- Supports butterflies
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
200 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.
also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.