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Groundcover · Fabaceae Draft — unreviewed

Trailing indigo bush

Dalea greggii A.Gray

Also called trailing indigo bush.

Silver-gray, mounding desert groundcover with small purple flower clusters in spring. Spreads across hot slopes and medians.

Size over time

Typical landscape size 0.3–0.6 m (1–2 ft) tall and 1.2–1.8 m (4–6 ft) wide; medium growth, about 3 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.25) from the plug install size.

00.511.52mPlanting0.1 × 0.1 mYear 30.3 × 0.8 mYear 100.4 × 1.4 mMature0.4 × 1.5 m

Bloom

Purple flowers, Mar–May (northern-hemisphere months; timing shifts with region and season).

Bloom calendar: months each plant is in bloom
PlantJFMAMJJASOND
Trailing indigo bush : Mar–May

Design notes

  • Needs fast drainage; overwatering causes root rot.
  • Freeze damage below about −7 °C; cut back damaged growth in spring.

Regions

Native range: Chihuahuan Desert of Texas and Mexico.

Not recorded as native to any of the three pilot regions.

Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.

Related plants

Canadian wild ginger
Asarum canadense · Groundcover · 0.1–0.2 m (0–1 ft)
Japanese painted fern
Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum' · Groundcover · 0.3–0.5 m (1 ft)
Pennsylvania sedge
Carex pensylvanica · Groundcover · 0.2–0.3 m (0–1 ft)
Hardy ice plant
Delosperma cooperi · Groundcover · 0.1–0.1 m (0 ft)
Blue Rug creeping juniper
Juniperus horizontalis 'Wiltonii' · Groundcover · 0.1–0.2 m (0 ft)
Trailing lantana
Lantana montevidensis · Groundcover · 0.3–0.6 m (1–2 ft)

Plan with Trailing indigo bush

Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.

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