Evergreen shrubHedgeSmall spaceFoundation plantingDrought tolerantPollinatorsNativeWinter interestFast growing

Brittlebush

Encelia farinosa

A rounded desert shrub with grey-green leaves that disappears under bright yellow daisies in spring, lighting up desert and Southern California gardens. It thrives in full sun and dry, rocky or sandy soil. It's tender to hard, lasting frost, so it's a plant for mild-winter gardens.

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Brittlebush: whole plant — Photo: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mature size: 3 × 3 ft; 0.9 × 0.9 m, tall × wide
Hardiness: Zones 9a–11b; USDA
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry
Blooms: Feb–May

Brittlebush at its mature size

A mature Brittlebush grows to about 3 ft tall and 3 ft wide.

Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.

Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: laspilitas.com, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, USDA PLANTS.

Through the year

What Brittlebush looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.

In leaf · Jun–Jan

Silver-white woolly leaves, no flowers.

In flower · Feb–May

Silver-white leaves with yellow daisies held above.

Photos

Brittlebush: flowers — Flowers · Joshua Tree National Park, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Brittlebush: detail — Detail · Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia Commons

Growing Brittlebush

Grows well in: The desert Southwest and California.
Growth rate: Fast
Good for: Hedge, small space, foundation planting, drought tolerant, pollinators, winter interest, and fast growing
Leaves: Evergreen
Native to: Mojave and Sonoran deserts and Northwest Mexico

Spacing for a hedge

VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Brittlebush, that’s about 3 ft apart, center to center.

Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.