Panicum (Switch Grass)
at Digging Dog
Including Panicum virgatum varieties Warrior, Prairie Sky, Heavy Metal, Cloud Nine, & Shenandoah
Panicum
Switch Grass
The Panicums we’ve chosen are warm season prairie grasses native to North America. Resistant to heat, drought, and even extreme cold, Switch Grass boasts a cloud of inflorescences—a mystifying hologram of tiny red seeds that mature to black in late summer.
If grown en masse and not cut back until early spring, Panicums promise a lively winter show. After a frost, they stiffen and adopt the warm glowing color and soft rustling sound of wheat. Panicum amarum ‘Dewey Blue’ 
Bitter Switch Grass
Populating Delaware’s coastal sand dunes near the town of Dewey, noted grass expert, Rick Darke selected this kingly Panicum for its blue, oh-so-blue smooth glaucous blades and elegant fountainlike stance. Distinctive straight-up stems bolster light airy plumes, followed by caramel-colored seed heads persisting well into winter. ‘Dewey Blue’ is not only a stunning showman but an enduring workhorse whose slowly spreading rhizomes form clumps that are vital in stabilizing seashore ecosystems, as well as withstanding hot dry summers and varied garden soils.
Blooms August–October. Size: 4'–5' high x 3' wide; hardy to zone 3. Panicum amarum Dewey Blue (G-0500)
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Panicum virgatum ‘Cloud Nine’
Tall Switch Grass
It’s not sky high, but ‘Cloud Nine’ does impart visions of grandeur as it rises into a massive, somewhat vase-shaped, blue-green form crowned by a mist of small inflorescences. Autumn brings golden tones to the foliage. This Panicum usually maintains its elegant shape through tough winter months, and is a dynamic partner with Salvia confertiflora for the rest of the season.
Blooms August–October. Size: 6'–8' high x 3' wide; hardy to zone 4. Panicum virgatum Cloud Nine (g-0082)
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Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’
Blue Switch Grass
Stiff, upright blades of green turn metallic blue and then warm pecan brown in the fall. We are fond of this dynamic, vertical accenting grass in drifts with Teucrium fruticans ‘Azureum’.
Blooms September–October. Size: 4'–5' high x 3' wide; hardy to zone 5. Panicum virgatum Heavy Metal (G-0021)
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Panicum virgatum ‘Prairie Sky’
Blue Switch Grass
The bluest of the Panicums and hardiest of the virgatums, this superb selection was discovered growing wild in a Wisconsin meadow by Roger Gettig. ‘Prairie Sky’s silvery
inflorescences have tiny rust-colored accents, while its fast growing foliage echoes the bluish gray leaves of Cardoon in our mixed border.
Blooms July–October. Size: 3'–5' high x 2-1/2' wide; hardy to zone 4. Panicum virgatum Prairie Sky (G-0080)
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Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’
Red Switch Grass
One of the best of the red Panicums, ‘Shenandoah’ was selected from ‘Hänse Herms’ seedlings by Germany’s Hans Simon. Emerging green in midsummer, slender leaves take on red hues and, come September, are thoroughly transformed. Paired
with Echinops ‘Arctic Glow’, the wine-infused theme is echoed and, backlit by the long
light of late afternoon, the glow is ethereal.
Blooms August–October. Size: 4' high x 2'–2-1/2' wide; hardy to zone 4. Panicum virgatum Shenandoah (g-0091)
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Panicum virgatum ‘Warrior’
The cultivar name of this grass alludes to the blood red hues of the blades and to its strong growing power. Upright and arching, ‘Warrior’s inflorescences rise to 5 or 6 ft., as its rubescent hints intensify through the early season, turning deep reddish brown in late fall and eventually fading to the color of creamed honey. For an army of rosy color, plant with other grasses like Pennisetum orientale.
Blooms September–October. Size: 5'–6' high x 2'–3' wide; hardy to zone 4. Panicum virgatum Warrior (g-0034)
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