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If you like your beauty with a side of beast,Panicum is your kind of grass.Indigenous to North America, "Switchgrass" transcends the native niche. It's just as comfortable in the traditional border as in meadow or prairie plantings. The fine sprays of its sun-catching inflorescence lend a deceptively dainty air, but don't be fooled: This is one sturdy genus, hardy all the way to Zone 4 (3 with protection).Panicum v. 'Hot Rod' PP26074Start your engines! This Emerald Coast Growers introductio

Bouteloua gracilis' Blonde Ambition' is one of the most sought-after grasses to hit the market in years. This nifty North American native stands just two feet tall in flower, but it ranks high on the Most Wanted list of discerning growers and landscapers.Heavy stands of chartreuse flowers mature quickly to blonde "eyelash" seedheads, held at a jaunty angle, dancing in the breeze like cheerful little pennants. Clumps of fine blue-green foliage complete the picture. No wonder it's a Plant Selec

Remember that old comedy team, the Smothers Brothers? At some point during their TV show Tom would glare at Dick and blurt, “Mom always liked you best!”In “side-oats grama,” we have a long-suffering, attention-deserving American native grass unfairly eclipsed by its better-known sibling, the lovely, scheming B. gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’. B. curtipendula is a charming, versatile, self-sufficient warm-season grass. Dense clumps of slender bluish-gray blades stand two feet tall. Small but attrac

Don’t let the common name “prairie dropseed” alarm you. This lovely, self-sufficient native grass is a clump-former, not a vigorous spreader.Declared a “Plant of Merit” by Missouri Botanical Garden for “outstanding quality and dependable performance,” Sporobolus is widely considered to be among the most attractive of our native prairie grasses. A natural for meadows, prairie dropseed can also be planted in rows to edge sunny walkways or lanes.Graceful arching clumps of slender emerald-green blad

For centuries, if not millennia, Andropogon gerardii, dominated America’s tallgrass prairies. It’s largely been replaced there by other grasses like Zeamays and Triticumaestivum, a.k.a. corn and wheat.But “big bluestem” is adaptable. It found new homes. Tough and self-reliant, Andropogon became a go-to plant for reclaiming damaged soils. And thanks to modern breeding, it’s increasingly welcome as an ornamental, especially in gardens dedicated to indigenous plants. Here are some of our faves.&nb