If you travel the back roads around Santa Fe and Taos you will see a fantastic native plant growing in the washes and arroyos. And it is great choice for your drought tolerant/xeric landscape! It grows fast to 6ft.-12ft., usually less, but what makes it a great choice for all landscapes is the fact it can be shaped into a single or multi stemmed small tree or used as a shrub, even a hedge, and can be kept at any height. It has bright green olive like leaves with yellow flowers and dark blue berries in clusters.  It very drought tolerant, cold hardy and deer resistant!