Autumn sage is a soft, mounding shrub typically 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 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. Still, it varies from area to area, with some regions dominated by red-blooming plants, others pink, orange, purple, and 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, drought-tolerant; once established, it should not be fertilized.

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 frigid 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.