Mexican Olive

Sun; nearly evergreen; very ornamental with large, thick leaves, a rounded crown, and often multiple trunks. White trumpet flowers appear all summer long and sometimes year-round. It drops leaves in extreme freezes and can be damaged by subfreezing temperatures (15 degrees F), but even then it returns vigorously from the roots to quickly regain full size; if in doubt, give it a south wall location or frost protection, especially in hilly country north of San Antonio. Once established, Mexican Olive is very drought-hardy and it survives without irrigation along roadsides and highways in the Rio Grande Valley.