Schizachyrium scoparium
Growing Information
• Plant Type: Grass
• Sunlight: Sun, Part Shade
• Soils: Average, dry
• Bloom Time: Non-flowering
• Size: 1-3 feet in height; 8-24 inch spread
This ubiquitous Cape Cod grass makes a beautiful native choice for an ornamental grass in the landscape. Blue-green stems in summer are followed by golden brown stems with airy seed heads in fall and winter. Drought tolerant but can do well in moist situations.
Garden Companions
Big Bluestem grass (Andropogon virginicus), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Black- eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)
Nature Benefits
• Larval host for several skipper butterflies.
• Seeds are eaten by songbirds.
• Food source for grasshoppers, leaf-mining beetles, thrips, spittlebugs, and leafhoppers.
• Provides cover for bumble bee queens to make their underground nests.
Native Habitat
Occurs in meadows, fields, roadsides, open areas.
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