As you may have heard or read, I kind of like the ornamental grass. No other plant performs better in my garden and welcomes my wet and deer infested conditions with open arms.

One grass that I haven’t promoted all that much over the years has been the Blue Indian Grass – Sorghastrum nutans ‘Sioux Blue’. This U.S and Canadian native prairie grass makes a bold statement in my garden from August through the winter.

In bloom it now reaches (after five years of ownership) 7′ tall and about 3′ wide. It took a while to establish in years one and two when it started out as a small plug, but did it ever take off after that. As a means of comparison, the picture above is from mid September of this year, 2014 and the photo below is from that same time back in 2012.

I have it located in full sun but from all that I’ve read, it can work in partial sun as well. The deer have never bothered with it and it sits in rather waterlogged soil without much of an issue. Indian blue grass survives in zones 4-8 and typically starts blooming in early August here in zone 6B New Jersey.

A chronological tour from spring to fall:

This warm season grass doesn’t truly emerge until early June as seen below.

But even while small in stature during the early to mid summer months, it combines well with others shrubs/perennials. The blue/green blade color is fantastic as a contrast to darker leaved and colorful neighboring plants.

And then by late August, boom.

As you can see, the blooms are fantastic and draw the eye from all angles.

By late September, the fall color arrives and while it is fleeting, it is still damn attractive.

Even after the autumn shades disappear, the interest remains.

Would love to hear from you, have you had success with this grass? Have you had success with other cultivars? Have yours held up through the winter? Any success with dividing it?

John