Switch Grass Prairie Sky

Switch grass was an important component of the tall-grass prairies, and Panicum virgatum Prairie Sky is an excellent cultivar for garden use. It’s a deciduous, perennial grass with a dense, quite upright, clump-forming, non-invasive habit. The narrow lance-shaped leaves are blue-green, turning orange-yellow, fading to tan, in autumn. In August and September, branching stems rise above the clump, bearing drooping panicles of blue-green spikelets (the flowers). Switch grass Prairie Sky is perfect for a prairie planting with late perennials such as echinacea, rudbeckia or asters. Remove the dead foliage and spent flowering stems in spring.

Site: Tolerates exposure
Soil: Any well-drained soil
Position: Full sun
Season of interest: Late summer to mid-autumn in particular
Hardiness: Fully hardy
Height: 5’ (1.5m) Spread: 39” (1m)

Photos by David J. Stang, cropped, and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.