I've been struggling to run down a Texas Torchwood for nearly 2 years now. They are native to South TX and Mexico. I found one at the National Butterfly Center in Mission, TX. I called them and they had only 1 left in their "Plants for Sale" nursery. Bush was $8 but shipping was $16. But I've wanted one for so long, I sprang for it. Got it within a week! It's 8" tall and had a very well-established root system. Lots of white soft roots and what looked like one tap root meandering below dirt line. It took a 12" deep pot to avoid damaging the roots! I'm so pleased to have finally found one!


They are evergreen, flower and fruit (edible) intermittently from March-October, attract pollinators and birds and LOVE sandy soil! It will make a lovely shrub 4-6' x 4-6' planting at one bare corner of the yard down at our cabin property in Gause. That soil is VERY sandy. It should be happy there with adequate fertilizer/amendments and monthly watering. These are freeze hardy, too! A fellow Texan on my other garden forum said hers survived the Texas 'Snowpocalypse' in February, so I'm happy to hear that. Of course, hers is an established tree/bush,

I'll likely keep mine up here in its pot this winter to see how it deals with our occasional dips below 32º and to see how fast it grows. If all goes well, I'll go ahead and plant it out first part of March (unless any Torchwood fans have contrary planting/timing suggestions).

@Peggy8b, never heard of this plant before…sounds like a great plant to have.
Isn't it wonderful to found a plant that you've been wanting for awhile?

I heard about this Texas native on the Houzz Texas Gardening forum. I don't post/visit there much these days.......maybe once a month. The lady that had the one that survived the deep freeze last February lives in San Antonio, 2 hours south. I always figure if she can keep a cultivar alive, I probably can, too. Her suggestions haven't failed me....yet.

Native Texas plants are in more demand now than ever before! Who knows maybe I will find one at one of the native plant nurseries in my general area and I'll buy one. In the meantime, let us native plant people know how yours is doing!

I brought my Torchwood inside last week. Just since then, it has put out a side shoot! No new leaves or visible growth on mother plant though. Not sure why no new leaves coming out where they clearly cut it off at the top for shipping. It has a really big, woody root coming off the other side on the right. I wiggled my finger down in the dirt there and I think it's a tap root. I hope this thing gets going for me. See the new 'baby' there?

Author deleting duplicate post.

Update on my Texas Torchwood. It has dropped most of the original leaves during the holidays. It has been in this north-facing window since Christmas (temps were dropping to the 30's a lot lately). It's rated to about 15º here, but I didn't want to stress it, being that it's so young. Good news is that it's replacing those dropped leaves very quickly and that 'baby' shoot is now a whole new branch, as you can see in the latest photo. I'm very encouraged this bush is going to take off for me this spring and summer. Don't plan to take it down to our cabin for another year or two so I can watch it and make sure it's off to a healthy start before it has to get by on its own. They are said not to water much at all once established, which is what I'm hoping for at lwast.

I planted my Torchwood into the ground down at our rural cabin yesterday. I hope it will take off now.