Sugar bush
Rhus ovata S.Watson
Also called sugar bush, sugar sumac.
Dense, rounded evergreen shrub with glossy, folded leaves, red buds opening to pale pink flowers in spring and sticky red fruit. A native informal screen for dry slopes that needs little water once established.
Size over time
Typical landscape size 2.4–3.6 m (8–12 ft) tall and 3–4.5 m (10–15 ft) wide; medium growth, about 6 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.25) from the #3 install size.
Bloom
Pale pink flowers, Mar–May (northern-hemisphere months; timing shifts with region and season).
| Plant | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar bush : Mar–May |
Design notes
- Avoid frequent summer irrigation in heavy soil, which invites root rot.
- Cold-hardy to about −9 °C; plants from Arizona chaparral seed sources are the hardier choice.
- A sumac relative: some people react to the sap.
Regions
Native range: Chaparral of central Arizona, southern California and Baja California.
Native to these OpenLandscape3D 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.
In the guides
Sugar bush comes up in this guide:
Related plants
Try Sugar bush in a plan
Opens your own copy of a finished sample garden in the planner with Sugar bush ready to place; the planner checks it against that garden’s zone, light and moisture.
Plan with Sugar bush
Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.