Broomsedge Bluestem Grass
Andropogon virginicus
Plant Details
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 5a-8b Find Your Zone
Plant Type: Ornamental Grass
Height at Maturity: 3-5′
Width at Maturity: 2-3′
Spacing: 30″ for mass plantings, 5’+ for space between plants
Spacing: 30″ for mass plantings, 5’+ for space between plants
Growth Habit / Form: Clumping, Upright, Columnar
Growth Rate: Moderate to Fast
Flower Color: Yellow opening to silky White hairs
Flower Size: Small
Flowering Period: Summer through Winter
Bloom Type: Spikelet opening to silky white, cotton-like puffs
Fragrant Flowers: No
Foliage Color: Green in Spring and Summer, Golden-Orange in Fall
Fragrant Foliage: No
Berries: No
Berry Color: NA
Sun Needs: Full to Mostly Sun
Water Needs: Average to low when established
Soil Type: Clay, Loam, Sandy, Silty, tolerates poor soil
Soil Moisture / Drainage: Moist But Well Drained to Dry when established
Soil pH: 6.0 – 8.0
Maintenance / Care: Very Low
Attracts: Visual Attention, Birds
Resistances: Air Pollution, Disease, Drought (when established), Heat, Humidity, Insect, Rabbits, High Salt Tolerance
Description
Exceptionally hardy and adaptable, Broomsedge Bluestem Grass is a very easy-to-grow North American native grass with an extremely upright or vase shaped habit perfect for a vertical accent in the landscape. Spring and summer stems and leaves are a bright to medium green turning to a pleasing orange to orange-red color in fall and finally to golden in winter. In late summer, the stems are topped with panicles of bristle tipped flower spikelets that become covered in soft tufts of silky white hairs which give a feathery appearance. On late winter afternoons, a grouping of Broom Sedge is quite a spectacle with glowing coppery foliage and silvery hairs that refract the sunlight. This low-maintenance drought and flood tolerant pioneer grass thrives in sunny sites with average to poor infertile soils and its dense roots are great for stabilizing soil. Hard to go wrong with that!
Landscape & Garden Uses
Growing 3 to 5 feet tall and wide, the Broomsedge Bluestem Grass is ideal for use as a vertical accent in small garden spaces or in groupings or large drifts or mass plantings in larger landscape borders. A useful grass for erosion control and restoration projects. A fine addition to ornamental grass gardens, bird and wildlife gardens, native plant gardens, Xeriscape gardens, roadside gardens, rain gardens, prairies, meadows or naturalized areas.
Companion Plants: Try pairing with Butterfly Milkweed, Rudbeckia, and Vernonia.
Spacing: 30″ apart for mass plantings; 4+ feet or more apart for space between plants
How To Measure for Total Square Feet
How Many Plants to Fill a Planting Area
Growing Preferences
Broomsedge Bluestem Grass is exceptionally easy to grow in well-drained average to poor soil with dry to medium moisture in full sun. It tolerates a wide range of soil types ranging from clay to sandy. Good drought resistance once established and likes moist soil as well. Cut plants back to just above the ground in late winter or early spring before new growth appears.
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