Autumn sage is a soft, mounding shrub normally 2-3 ft. tall, with small, minty aromatic green leaves that are evergreen in warmer climates. The flowers are borne on racemes from spring to frost and can be red, pink, purple, orange, or white. Its natural range is from south-central and west Texas south to San Luis Potosi in Mexico, mostly on rocky slopes.

A popular landscape plant in the Southwest, Autumn sage is delightful to use as a small, ornamental, flowering shrub in a perennial bed or as a low hedge. Its aromatic foliage quickens the senses, and its flowers will surely draw hummingbirds. The color of its blossoms in the wild is usually red but varies from area to area, with some regions dominated by red-blooming plants, others pink, others orange, others purple, and others white, plus many shades in between. The color range has been further enhanced by breeding, resulting in many cultivars over the years. It is disease- and insect-free, and drought-tolerant and should not be fertilized once established.

Autumn sage must have a well-drained site and cannot take shrink-swell clay soils. Work in organic matter and amendments in clay soils to improve drainage and, if possible, plant on a slope. Though generally cold tolerant will be deciduous in regions with extremely cold winters, some cultivars do well even in Oklahoma and Colorado, well outside of their natural range. Avoid planting it near heavy foot traffic because the stems are very brittle.