Grasses, Sedges & Rushes

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  • Sporobolus heterolepsis Prairie dropseed Zone 3 – 9

    Mound of graceful thinnest of grass blades

    $12.75/bareroot

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    The description in the Chiltern Seeds catalog cannot be improved:  “This is the most elegant and refined of the North American prairie grasses …the finest texture composed of the thinnest of thin, thread-like, glossy green blades,.. in autumn turning deep orange before fading to a light copper for the winter.  In late summer the plants bear, on very slender stalks high above the foliage, unbelievably delicate, graceful flower panicles, excellent for cutting. ”One of internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated 94 (2013)

    Size: 2’ x 2’
    Care: Full sun in well-drained soil
    Native: from Canada in the north to Texas in the south, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: seeds are food for birds
    Awards: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit & Great Plants for Great Plains Grass of the Year.

    Sporobolos is Greek from sporo meaning seed and ballein meaning to cast forth because the seed readily falls from the flower (or dropseed, the common name).  Ojibwa “Medicine Society” used roots to cure sores & “remove bile.”