Buckets of rain, barrels of humidity
Published October 24, 2026, in the McAllen Monitor
Story and photos by Anita Westervelt
It takes a dedicated rain event to spur two native plants to show their blooming colors. Texas sage, Leucophyllum frutescens, also called cenizo, is a shrub that goes unnoticed because its nearly neutral, silver-gray leaves are not attention-getters. But after a healthy rain, the shrub is an instant showstopper, bursting into a mass of vibrant purple blooms.
The event is somewhat of a phenomenon. Overnight, every cenizo bush in the Rio Grande Valley, in synchronized activity, blooms, dotting private gardens, public landscapes and roadside habitats with purple shrubs. Even more mysterious, cenizo can bloom in response to surges in air humidity and high atmospheric moisture, sometimes even days before a storm.
Rain lilies are another rain-triggered synchronized blooming native plant, surprising areas with pop-up star-shaped white blooms atop single straight 10-inch-tall thin sturdy stems. Rain lily bulbs lay dormant underground until a soaking rain shoots the plants up through the soil. The show is short-lived, lasting only two to three days. The flowers are gone as swiftly as they arrived. Be quick if you want to photograph them.
Zephyranthes drummondi are the most abundant rain lily species in the Rio Grande Valley. They are in the Amaryllidaceae family and are endemic to Texas. You might see only one, two or half a dozen, or swaths of rain lilies along roadsides, open spaces, swales or residential lawns.
Both cenizo and the rain lily blooms are a sporadic but special wildlife treat. When blooming, cenizo attracts bees, butterflies and moths for nectar. The small bell-shaped blooms also accommodate hummingbirds. Cenizo is a larval host for theona checkerspot butterflies and calleta silkmoths, large moths native to and often found in the Rio Grande Valley and west.
Rain lilies attract bees, butterflies and nocturnal moths for nectar. Their blooms begin opening around dusk and reach full bloom by the following morning. They are visited by night-flying hawkmoths, like the five-spotted hawkmoth and sphinx moths that drink nectar and help pollinate them.
It is possible to have native plants blooming during all seasons in the Rio Grande Valley, not just after rain.
One such, is scarlet sage, Salvia coccinea, a self-propagating perennial that will bloom during most seasons; it takes a break during frost.
The thin tubular flowers attract pollinators, especially hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.
Plant five to seven plants in a circular grouping. They grow one to three feet tall. Drought-tolerant once established, but watering during dry spells is helpful. Also called tropical sage, the plant is host to the tiny Southern pink moth.
Despite their common name similarities, Texas sage (cenizo) and scarlet sage are not related. Texas sage is in the foxglove family and not a true sage, more closely related to snapdragons; scarlet sage is in the mint family; it is a true sage, belonging to the genus Salvia.
They are similar in that both Texas sage and scarlet sage are extremely heat and drought tolerant – good news after our long, hot dry summer for anyone looking for something new to plant.
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