In a continued series of looking back on new plants I introduced to my garden in 2013 (or technically late 2012), I wanted to share with you my brief but oh so wonderful experience with Panicum virgatum (Switch Grass) ‘Cheyenne Sky’.
I planted a six inch plug of this native grass in late October of last year in a location that ended up being the wettest area in my entire landscape. And that my friends is no exaggeration. It was the last available spot in the garden so I dumped her in and never looked back.
Cut to spring of this year and miraculously, the grass survived the winter and the brutally wet conditions. While the growth was minimal and barely visible, by the late summer, the color of the grass was off the charts:
Pretty frickin awesome, eh?
As I am want to do, I moved the ‘Cheyenne Sky’ to a much more prominent location in the summer, banking on it putting on a damn good show for years to come.
Now we wait to see how the OG actually grows and evolves.
From a quick browsing session on the Internet, this warm season grass looks like it has outstanding blue/green color from mid spring until summer and then gets that outstanding color, or some similar version of it, by July/August. Also, with a max size of about ‘3 x 2’, this one will be easily added to multiple new locations throughout the yard.
Yet another Panicum that appears to be a must-have.
John
Interesting facts!
Definitely a new fave…I plant 5 or 6 in a swathe this spring…then fell so in love with them that I removed the variegated Willow next to them so I could plant more!
Beautiful grass! It appears to be workable within the margins of my zone so I’ll need to try it (provided I can find it locally).
I love it, obviously a must-have for next year. I have Panicum ‘Heavy Metal’ which is gorgeous but this one is new to me. Thank you for the introduction, I hope it is available over here.
Chloris
I purchased 2 of these dormant last fall but they have not come up. It is June 19th and I live in Pennsylvania. Conditions were fine – site and planting time. I’m very disappointed. Since it’s their first real year, should I wait until July to worry or plan to order an entirely different replacement concluding this grass will fail for me again?
My guess is if you see no growth by now, they aren’t coming back. I will say that mine has had a little trouble getting established so I wonder if they aren’t as tough as so many of the other Panicums. Sorry to hear about this but hope you grow other Panicums as well and if so, let me know which ones have worked for you. Thanks for reaching out!
I contacted the company I ordered from and they are replacing all of them for free, including shipping cost. They’ll arrive again for fall planting. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Amy – that is fantastic! That company deserves a big shout-out. Keep me up to speed once you have them planted to see how they perform.