Sugar Bush flowers attract enormous numbers of bees and other pollinators. Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photo
Sugar Bush is blooming all over the high country, decorating the chaparral and grasslands with its fresh white to pinkish flower clusters nestled in dark green, leafy branches.Rhus ovata, commonly called Sugar Bush, is an 8- to 12-foot tall evergreen native Southern California and Arizona shrub. It is known for its large white flower clusters that spring forth in March and May. Sugar Bush has large, rich green, leathery leaves, and the flowers give way to reddish berries.Sugar Bush prefers dry inland slopes with plenty of sun and little or no water after it has become well-established. In some areas, the plant grows in very soft chaparral; in others, such as east of Hemet and Perris, a few of the pretty shrubs are all that remain along the bare ground. It prefers south-facing slope
