Texas Ranger, Leucophyllum frutescens

I figured out what the nifty bush in the middle of my front yard is. Its called Texas Ranger, or Texas Sage. Yesterday I suddenly saw little pink buds all over the plant, towards the ends of the branches. I thought, "wow, I'm going to have some flowers in about a week." Ha! I woke up this morning to a bonanza of purple flowers. Amazing. Everything happens faster in the desert.

Of course I still had no idea what the plant was, but flowers always help on an ID. I took some pictures and brought my camera in to work. Surely in a building chock full of biologists, I would solve my puzzle. Luckily, the first person I asked knew. He's a desert gardener, so I was hoping that would be the case.

Since this morning, I've seen this plant everywhere. It is super common with the landscaping around here. Funny how well it blended in when it was just those tiny silvery leaves. Add a bevy of purple flowers and suddenly a plant gets noticed. Maybe this is why women get breast implants... I'm just sayin' there's a likely reason there.