Emerging under adverse conditions, a volunteer grassland offers a framework for naturalistic design.
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Schizachyrium scoparium little bluestem
little bluestem
Characteristics
Descriptions
Light Requirements
sun, part-sun
Soil Moisture
dry, moist
Soil Description
average, poor, sand, gravel/rock
Height
2'-4'
Recommended Spacing
16"-24"
Bloom Time
June, July, August, September
Bloom Color
yellow, green
Hardiness Zone
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Description
Little bluestem has been getting a lot of attention from gardeners, and rightfully so, as it provides year-round visual interest. Plants emerge as the weather warms with tight clumps of blue-green, fine-textured foliage. In early summer, erect culms (stems) rise from the clump (up to a height of 4') to produce delicate racemes of tiny flowers along the upper portion. As the weather cools, the grass turns to spectacular shades of orange, red, and crimson, and the seedheads develop into showy, white tufts. Both the grass and seedheads will persist well into winter, providing food, shelter, and nesting material for wildlife. They also provide wonderful contrast in areas that receive snow. Little bluestem's native range spans most of the U.S. and southern Canada, with lots of natural variation in size, habit, and coloration. That variation has fueled numerous cultivars—often naturally occurring selections—that are more consistent and uniform. We love the diversity you get with choosing the species, and it's especially apt when planting a meadow, prairie, or other naturalistic garden.
Cultivation
Schizachyrium scoparium is warm-season grass that's easy to grow, low maintenance, and highly adaptable. It's very cold hardy, and the only conditions it will not tolerate are shade and wet, poorly drained soil. It thrives in poor, dry soil in full sun. In a garden, It can be mixed with tall growing perennials as a ground-covering filler and to reduce weed competition. These taller perennials will overshadow the little bluestem, keeping its height in check. Little bluestem's neat form makes it a good specimen choice for a rock garden. It is also quite effective in groups or in mass plantings. Cut back old foliage in spring before new growth emerges.
Recommended Spacing
Space plants 16"-20" on center.
Though it will naturalize by seed, it does not do so aggressively, and the spread is easy to control if so desired.
Companion Plants
Schizachyrium scoparium is so widespread and occurs in so many habitats that it's hard to narrow down suggestions. A few standouts include Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (aromatic aster), Ruellia humilis (wild petunia), Liatris aspera (tall blazing star), Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower, Eryngium yuccifolium (button eryngo), Coreopsis tripteris (tall tickseed), Ratibida pinnata (prairie coneflower), Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed), Rudbeckia fulgida (orange coneflower), and Baptisia bracteata var. leucophaea (longbract wild indigo). On the grassy side, you can't go wrong pairing it with warm-season companions Panicum virgatum (switchgrass), Sorghastrum nutans (yellow prairie grass), and Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem) for a tall planting. On the shorter side, plant it with Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed), Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama), Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama), or Koeleria macrantha (prairie junegrass).
Additional Notes
Little bluestem provides excellent support for wildlife. It's a host for skippers, and several grasshoppers that are an important food source for birds feed on the foliage. Songbirds and small mammals eat the seeds, and its foliage serves as nesting material. And while it is tasty and favored by grazing animals, deer are browsers and rarely bother it.
Little bluestem used to be grouped with the genus Andropogon (syn. Andropogon scoparius). However it differs from that genus in having floral racemes that occur individually on single stalks. Andropogon species all have floral racemes that occur in groups, often from the same stalk.
Pricing & Availability
Would you like your plants shipped later? You may choose to do so in the shopping cart.
Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.
Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.
Did you know? When plants are available from multiple growers, we list growers closest to your location first.
Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!
Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!
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Maps, Wetland Status & More
MAP OF NATIVE RANGE
Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.
Native To
| AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, LA, MT, NM, TX, UT, WA, WY |
Legal Status
Wetland Status
| Arid West | FACU |
| Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain | FACU |
| Eastern Mountains and Piedmont | FACU |
| Great Plains | FACU |
| Midwest | FACU |
| Northcentral and Northeast | FACU |
| Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast | FACU |
MAP OF WETLAND DELINEATION REGIONS
Interpreting Wetland Status
|
Code |
Status |
Designation |
Comment |
|
OBL |
Obligate Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Almost always occur in wetlands |
|
FACW |
Facultative Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands |
|
FAC |
Facultative |
Hydrophyte |
Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands |
|
FACU |
Facultative Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands |
|
UPL |
Obligate Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Almost never occur in wetlands |
Classification
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants |
| Superdivision | Spermatophyta | Seed plants |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants |
| Class | Liliopsida | Monocotyledons |
| Subclass | Commelinidae | |
| Order | Cyperales | |
| Family | Poaceae | Grass family |
| Genus | Schizachyrium | little bluestem |
| Species | Schizachyrium scoparium | little bluestem |
SCIENTIFIC SYNONYMS:
Andropogon scoparius
Plant Sizes
Sizes Sizes
Sizes info
Shipping & Planting
SHIPPING INFO:
Shipping is free on all plants orders!
Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.
Shipping plugs:
Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.
When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.
After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.
Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.
PLANTING INFO:
Planting plugs:
We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.
We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.
Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.