Bitter Switch Grass
Panicum
Switch Grass
Our Panicums are warm season prairie grasses native to North America. Resistant to heat, drought and extreme cold, Switch Grass hosts a cloud of inflorescences—a mystifying hologram of tiny red seeds that mature to black in late summer. If grown in drifts and not cut back until early spring, Panicums promise a lively winter show. After several frosty nights, they stiffen and adopt the warm glowing color and soft rustling sound of wheat.
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' 0" – 5' 0" high x 3' 0" wide.
Hardy to zone 3.
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Other selections in this genus:
- Panicum cirgatum ‘Summer Sunrise’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Cape Breeze’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Cloud Nine’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Heiliger Hain’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Prairie Sky’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Purple Tears’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Rehbraun’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Ruby Ribbons’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Thundercloud’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Trailblazer’
- Panicum virgatum ‘Warrior’
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