Big bluestem
* Common name: Big bluestem
Big bluestem foliage starting to turn color in early October.
* Botanical name: Andropogon girardii
* What it is: Big bluestem is a deep-rooted, low-care, drought-tough, U.S.-native ornamental grass that once was a prime midwestern prairie species. Its purple-pink wispy seedheads and bronze-red fall foliage make it a worthy grass for home-garden use, especially for those trying to add native plants to the landscape.
‘Blackhawk’ is a recently introduced variety of it that has dark-burgundy fall foliage.
* Size: Grows four to five feet tall with the seed plumes poking up another foot or two in late summer. Allow three to four feet of width.
* Where to use: Like most grasses, big bluestem does best in full sun. This one is especially good in dry soil but tolerates damp soil as well. Deer seldom bother it.
Uses include lining borders or driveways, massing on a sunny bank, or mixing with perennials and shrubs in an island garden.
* Care: Cut to a stub in early March… or any time over winter after the blades have gone brown. Once established, no water or fertilizer needed.
If clumps spread where you don’t want them, dig up and divide in early spring; fist-sized pieces transplant easily.
* Great partner: Native perennials, such as purple coneflowers, liatris, and Stoke’s aster, combine to make a sun-loving native-plant garden. Mums, sedums, goldenrods, and asters are good fall partners.