Wax myrtle
Morella cerifera · Myricaceae
A fast, native evergreen with narrow, olive-green, aromatic leaves and waxy, grey berries. It grows in sand, wet soil and salt spray.
- Size
- 15 ft tall, 10 ft wide
- Zones
- 7 to 10
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Grown for its leaves
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around wax myrtle
The planner designed this bed around wax myrtle when this page was made: a 30 × 14 ft (9.1 × 4.3 m) English border in zone 7, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 977 that suit those conditions, and says below why wax myrtle stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Wax myrtle × 1, green leaves
- 2 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 5, purple
- 3 Winter heath × 30, pink
- 4 Sasanqua camellia × 1, white
- 5 Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky' × 4, tan
- 6 Sneezeweed × 4, yellow
- 7 Swamp milkweed × 5, pink
- 8 White mugwort × 3, cream
- 9 Hyssop × 3, blue
- 10 Gray's sedge × 5, green
- 11 Obedient plant 'Miss Manners' × 3, white
- 12 Creeping phlox × 12, pink
- 13 Blue-eyed grass × 61, blue
- 14 Crown imperial × 7, yellow
- 15 Pineapple lily × 6, white
- 16 Daffodil × 15, orange
Why this plant
- The only plant grown for its leaves. Leaf lasts all season, where a flower lasts a few weeks.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 15 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to white mugwort (5 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- Here for its leaves, all year. Something is in flower every week between early March and late November, so its leaves are the green between the colours.
- One of three evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 27 of the 31 groups (87%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height in early August, with 9 kinds out together. The longest in flower is verbena 'Homestead Purple': 21 weeks, from mid May to early October. Worth a second look, according to the Design check: heights.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Needs revision. Its weakest point is height and scale: Heights average about 12 in at the front, 22 in in the middle and 4½ ft at the back. Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky' is airy enough to see through, so it comes forward of its height. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where wax myrtle goes in a border
At 15 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
The quickest native evergreen screen for warm climates. Left alone it becomes a small, multi-stemmed tree; it also takes shearing as a hedge.
- Fast evergreen screening in the South
- Coastal gardens
- Wet or dry soil
What to plant with wax myrtle
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Inkberry: low enough (6½ ft) to stand in front of it.
- Dwarf yaupon holly: low enough (4 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': low enough (4 ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about wax myrtle
Does wax myrtle need sun or shade?
Wax myrtle grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does wax myrtle grow in?
USDA zones 7 to 10. It is hardy to zone 7, which means it survives winter nights down to about 10 °F (−12 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
How far apart should wax myrtle be planted?
8 ft (250 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 10 ft (300 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 15 ft (450 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many wax myrtle plants do I need?
Usually one. At 8 ft (250 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 8 ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is wax myrtle poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat wax myrtle?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will wax myrtle spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads by suckers into a wider clump. Remove the outer shoots to contain it.
What does wax myrtle look like in winter?
Wax myrtle keeps its green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is wax myrtle good for bees and butterflies?
Wax myrtle is visited by pollinators, butterflies and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of red-banded hairstreak feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States.
More Morella
- Northern bayberry Morella pensylvanica
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 15 ft (450 cm) tall, 10 ft (300 cm) wide
- Plant
- 8 ft (250 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- None: grown for its foliage
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; green
- Shape
- Rounded, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 7 to 10
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Myricaceae
- Comes from
- New Jersey to Central America, Caribbean, NC
- Attracts
- Pollinators, butterflies, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Red-banded hairstreak
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, salt, wet soil, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.