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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Jersey Tea

Ceanothus herbaceus
native · Hill Country

Jersey Tea is a shrub native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 2–3 ft tall and 3 ft wide. It wants full sun and low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white and blue in Mar–May. Deer rarely browse it. Good for birds and butterflies.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

5 sources
Type
Shrub
Sun
Full sun (6–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Low
Height
2–3 ft
Spread
3 ft
Bloom
Mar–May · white, blue
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes caliche and clay · recorded on calcareous, clay, dry, limestone, rocky, sand, well drained
Deer
High — deer rarely browse it
Wildlife
Supports birds and butterflies

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandLimestone Cut Plain

192 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

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.