*Cordia parvifolia, Little-leaf cordia, medium-sized shrub
This bushy, dense-spreading shrub with arching branches grows four to eight feet tall with a three- to ten-foot spread. It is a semi-evergreen with oval, grayish-green, leathery leaves that have deep margins. This attractive plant produces showy clusters of white blossoms in spring and again in the fall. Little-leaf cordia blooms profusely with high heat and humidity and during our summer monsoon. The plant is hardy to eighteen degrees Fahrenheit and suffers during severe frosts. It drops its foliage if it is drought-stressed but recovers quickly during the summer monsoons. Plant it in full sun with reflected heat or partial shade. It is drought-resistant, but responds better with supplemental irrigation. This low-maintenance, moderately growing shrub also likes well-draining soil. Prune it heavily in early spring to shape. Use it as an informal hedge, screen, foundation planting, or flowering accent in low-water-use landscapes. It also looks nice as a background shrub with its attractive white blooms, especially when using lower growing accent plants in the foreground. This plant is native to the Chihuahua Desert, Baja California, and Sonora, Mexico, in addition to Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, and other parts of Mexico, where grows in washes, flats, and rocky soils at elevations of up to 2,800 feet.
