Bloom Color

Interesting Notes

This little bluestem cultivar is an ornamental grass which typically grows 2-4' tall. Features erect, upright, broom-like clumps of slender leaves (1/4" wide) which are tinted blue. Pinkish-tinged culms (stems). Foliage acquires burgundy-red tones in autumn. Purplish-bronze flowers appear in 3" long racemes on branched stems rising above the foliage in August. Flowers give way to clusters of fluffy, silvery-white seed heads which may persist into early winter. Blue foliage and fall color are probably the best ornamental features of this grass. The species (see F510) is a Missouri native which was one of the dominant grasses of the rich and fertile soils of the tallgrass prairie. Kemper Center

To distinguish it from the common grass, broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus), look at the base of the stems: little bluestem shoots are lavender-tinged; broomsedge shoots are yellowish. At maturity, little bluestem is a rusty color with purplish tints; broomsedge is gold.

Little bluestem is a drought-tolerant North American native grass that adds color to meadow, prairie, and woodland-edge plantings. The rusty-bronze fall color contrasts beautifully with blue-green or deep forest green broad-leaved foliage. Little bluestem also provides food and shelter for wildlife. Since this species readily becomes established along disturbed trail edges, it is highly recommended for use in landscaping greenways and restoring damaged wildland recreation areas. floridata.com

Throughout the year your garden provides you with snapshots of growth. You can see changes as you watch your garden move through the seasons, month to month. Imagine how dynamic it would be if you could see that motion and vibrancy on an hour by hour basis, as the panicles of your ornamental grasses responded to western weather patterns- whispering and dancing in the wind, followed moments later by reverent silence.

Ornamental grasses can play an important role in your garden design, providing an anchor with which to pull all the formal and informal elements of your garden into a synthesized whole. Their beauty lies in their linearity-the lines of their leaves, their stems and the branches of their flowerheads; and their motion-generally reaching a crescendo just as the rest of your garden is slipping into dormancy.

Grasses have not only beauty and variety to recommend them, but also ease of cultivation. Given ordinary earth and a place in the sun, most are extraordinarily drought tolerant and need little care beyond an annual grooming.

In short, ornamental grasses would seem to be a perfect addition to the western garden, because of their ease of care, their drought tolerance, their winter beauty and the way they augment our already dynamic weather patterns. highcountrygardens.com

Growing and Maintenance Tips

Tolerant of a wide range of soils, but will not grow well in moist, fertile soils. Often associated with high magnesium levels in the soil. Propagate by seed or division in spring. Cut to the ground in spring before new growth emerges. Best used in meadow and rock gardens or intermixed in wildflower gardens. Excellent in mass plantings as a groundcover!