Rocky Mountain Sumac
Rhus glabra cismontana
Size: #5
10 feet high x 5 feet wide
Spreading upright shape
Zone 3
Full Sun
Out of stock
Rocky Mountain Sumac is not new to the trade but a convincing xeric shrub we’re proud to offer for its attributes of being able to handle very dry conditions, poor alkaline soils and heavy wind. This is a thicket forming shrub spreading by rhizomes. Green leaves in summer turn a brilliant scarlet in autumn making for a spectacular display. This shrub has tremendous diversity of uses; consider its use in the xeric garden where it provides a lush tropical look or on inhospitable slopes that are difficult to water or even in an urban environment filled with concrete save only a spot to plant. Disease and insect issues are rare, but deer love to eat this shrub.
Throughout this site, the following are used as guidelines for watering established plants:
These truly xeric plants can live with our 12 inches of natural annual precipitation and only need a winter watering during a multi-year drought, but they will thrive with a monthly watering. Overwatering will kill some of these. These plants are adapted to intermittent deep
watering with soil drying to a depth of a few inches between waterings. Watering frequency may be every couple of weeks during the active growing season and maybe only one winter watering for optimal care. These plants need regular watering somewhat like a bluegrass lawn so that
they never dry to depth in the root system during the active growing season, and need occasional winter watering to prevent root dessication and resultant plant
death. About sizes of our plants:
Sizes indicated with a # are roughly the equivalent in gallonage; so a #2 is about a 2 gallon pot size; b&b stands for balled and burlapped.