Southern Wax Myrtle

Myrica cerifera

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a-10b Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Evergreen Shrub or Small Tree

Height at Maturity: 10-15′

Width at Maturity: 10-12′
Spacing: 8′ for solid hedges and privacy screens; 18′ for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Upright, Rounded

Growth Rate: Moderate to Fast

Flower Color: Inconspicuous

Flower Size: Small

Flowering Period: Late Winter

Flower Type: Single

Fragrant Flowers: Yes

Foliage Color: Olive Green

Fragrant Foliage: Yes

Berries: Yes

Berry Color: Blue-Grey

Sun Needs: Full to Mostly Sun, Morning Sun w/Dappled or Afternoon Shade, Afternoon Sun w/Morning Shade

Water Needs: Average, Low when established

Soil Type: Clay, Loam, Sand, Silt

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Well-Drained Moist, Well-Drained Dry when established

Soil pH: 5.0 – 8.0 (Acid to Moderately Alkaline)

Maintenance / Care: Low

Attracts: Birds

Resistances: Deer – more info, Disease, Drought, Heat, Humidity, Insect, Rabbit, Wet Soils

Description

Myrica cerifera, commonly called Southern Wax Myrtle or Southern Bayberry, is a fast growing evergreen shrub or small tree with a very attractive natural shape and look. It is native to the southeastern U.S. from New Jersey to Florida through the Gulf States to Oklahoma and Texas and further south into Mexico and Central America. The glossy, olive green leaves are aromatic, emitting a bayberry candle fragrance when crushed. Fragrant, non-showy flowers appear in late-winter as 1-inch long catkins that are followed on female plants by attractive clusters of small, blue-gray berries that appear in fall persisting throughout the winter. The berries are used to make bayberry candles, soaps and sealing wax. Birds with appreciate you planting a wax myrtle in your landscape because they enjoy feeding on the berries.

Landscape / Garden Uses

Growing in an irregular form to 10-15 feet tall and wide, the Southern Wax Myrtle is an ideal selection for use in the landscape in groupings or as a natural or clipped formal evergreen hedge, privacy screen or background planting. Lower branches can be removed to form a very attractive small tree that serves well as a specimen in home foundation plantings and landscape borders. Since birds love the winter berries, it is a welcome addition to bird and wildlife gardens.

Note: For our customers who live and garden north of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7a, where the Southern Wax Myrtle is not winter hardy, you’ll be happy to know it can be grown in containers that can be brought indoors during winter and placed back outside when temperatures warm up in spring.

Growing Preferences

The Southern Wax Myrtle is very easy to grow in full sun to part shade. It adapts to most any soil of average fertility to poor soils. When young it prefers a consistently moist soil, but established plants are exceptionally drought tolerant. Those living and gardening on or near the coast will be happy to know that this attractive evergreen plant is tolerant of salt spray. No pruning is required however plants respond well to it for hedges, shapes and tree form.

Helpful Articles

Click on the link below to find advice from our experts…

How To Plant & Care For A Wax Myrtle Shrub Or Tree

Plant Long & Prosper!

Meet The Wilson Brothers & Staff >

Questions? Contact Us!

I previously ordered 3 Hollywood Junipers from WBG. I was so pleased with the quality, packing, and shipping of them, I ordered 8 Southeren Wax Myrtle’s. Again, the wax myrtle’s arrived timely, well packaged, and healthy. I will continue to use WBG for my landscaping needs and highly recommend them.——————————————————Thanks for the kind words and awesome review! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

My Wax Myrtle arrived very quickly and was in better shape than I would’ve believed possible, very healthy and vigorous looking. Within hours of its arrival it was in the ground and watered. In Texas I don’t usually do much planting in September because the temps are still above 95-100, but I was eager to get this guy established as quickly as possible. Within about 5 days the plant is already showing signs of new growth, which I’ve always believed indicates the roots are becoming established. I’m very pleased and will be ordering more soon. I’m not sure who told me or where I read that Wilson Bros Wax Myrtle’s are usually female, so I ordered a couple males from a different nursery just to make sure I have good fruiting in the spring. This is an important issue for many people but most nursery’s don’t keep track of that info for some reason. It needs to be prominently listed in the website description! Thank you again!—————————————-You’re welcome! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the awesome review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

The plants arrived in great condition and are thriving in heavy clay. Steady new growth. Seem to be good quality plants for a hedge.————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

I ordered two of these recently. This shipping was prompt and the packaging was better than other online nurseries I’ve used. The wax myrtles did appear to have been pruned at some point but were otherwise in great condition and are already showing signs of growth in their new home. The only thing I think could be better is to know what sex the plants are to get one of each.———————————————–I will see if that’s possible, thanks for the suggestion. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

The 3 wax myrtles we ordered were all well packaged and healthy! We have made a few purchases from Wilson Bros and so far we are very pleased.————————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

I received my wax myrtle yesterday. It is absolutely beautiful, healthy, much bigger and better than what I was expecting. It arrives without any damages.. I can’t wait to plant it and I surely get more in the future.——————————————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

I purchased just one 3 gallon Wax Myrtle for a screen. I was very pleased when it arrived and it was 30″ tall and very full and healthy. No shipping charge was great. I would order again.————————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

The shrub arrived in great shape and very healthy. Very good packaging.————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Beautiful and healthy!—————————————We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

Very pleased with my Wax Myrtles, which arrived healthy and beautiful. Shipment was a bit tough on them despite great packaging effort by the nursery. The tape-over-padding method looks labor-intensive and much soil came loose anyway. Consider a simple plastic bag with drawstring or zip-tie used by others, which really helped retain soil. My shrubs arrived during an unusually long, rain-drenched 2021 spring in Texas, and were kept sheltered in containers for awhile to avoid drowning. New growth continued before & after planting. I have learned they can be very brittle in ice storms so I’ll protect & monitor these youngsters when threatened. I’m looking forward to their growth into a great privacy hedge. Thank you!——————————-We have tried just about every shipping method, and ours seems to work well for the most part. But thanks for the suggestion, they are always wecome. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

“I recently bought four native azaleas (Rhododendron austinum) and two wax myrtles. I was delighted with how quickly they arrived and in what good condition. They are thriving. I was also very happy with their size – these were well-grown shrubs. Thank you Wilson Bros Gardens for helping me make my garden of native plants even more beautiful and bird-friendly with these shrubs!”———————————————–We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the kind words and great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

We’re very happy with the Wax Myrtles — they arrived in excellent condition and are growing well. They are a beautiful, dense bush, soon to be a beautiful tree: perfect for a privacy screen.———————————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review and the kind words! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

I was nervous to have these shipped to my home in Atlanta (I couldn’t find them anywhere!), but they arrived safely and without any damage. Honestly, they were probably in better condition than if I had driven them home myself. Highly recommend if you’re looking to have some plants shipped!———————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Hi, wax myrtle just arrived. It looks fabulous. We moved from NC 3 years ago to Delaware and we were missing our wax myrtles.
Thank you so much.——————————————You’re welcome! We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

Plants arrived in really nice condition and are doing great. I’m grooming all 3 as trees, so hoping for fast growth.—————————————-We are glad you are pleased with your purchase! They are pretty fast growers! Beth | WBG 🙂

The 2 wax myrtles we received were in prime condition. They were packaged well. They have been in the ground about a month and they are thriving. I purchased several myrtles from a local nursery and Wilson Bro’s are far superior.————————————Thanks for the great review! We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG

I needed a large number of wax myrtle trees, and being rather late in the season you only had 6. I purchased the 6 from you, and had to purchase the additional trees from 2 other nurseries. The trees from your nursery were much larger, fuller and attractive than either of the other nurseries, even though the price was very similar. Additionally, your staff was very helpful in responding to my questions.—————————Hi Ivan, Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review of the Southern Wax Myrtle. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks so much for the kind words! 🙂
Beth Steele | Wilson Bros Gardens