{"id":553,"date":"2015-02-20T23:26:55","date_gmt":"2015-02-21T05:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/?p=553"},"modified":"2015-02-20T23:29:07","modified_gmt":"2015-02-21T05:29:07","slug":"schizachyrium-scoparium-little-bluestem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/schizachyrium-scoparium-little-bluestem\/","title":{"rendered":"Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"lil<\/a>

Little Bluestem fall color at Black Kettle National Grasslands<\/p><\/div>\n

Type:<\/b> Perennial Bunchgrass
\nHeight:\u00a0<\/b> 1 to 4 ft. (average height 3 ft.)
\nSpread:<\/b> 1-2 ft.
\nOrigin:<\/b> Much of the U.S. including most Oklahoma counties
\nExposure:\u00a0<\/b> Full Sun to Part Sun
\nWater: <\/b>Medium to dry.\u00a0 Can tolerate some wetness
\nEdible: <\/b>n\/a
\nMedicinal: <\/b>Used as a switch in sweat lodge ceremonies
\nCompanions: <\/b>Echinacea (pallida, angustifolia, purpurea), Agastache, Baptisia, Pinus mugo, and Perovskia, Yucca glauca<\/p>\n

Notes:\u00a0<\/strong>Few plants are as integral a part of the aesthetics of the Great Plains (and Oklahoma) as Little Bluestem.\u00a0 This grass is an essential component of prairie ecosystems and should be an essential ornamental grass in every landscape.\u00a0 Not many ornamental grasses, (native or otherwise) have the characteristics of beautiful year round color\/form and also such a graceful appearance that doesn\u2019t overwhelm spaces.\u00a0 It\u2019s unique attractiveness embodies a wonderful balance between tough ruggedness and delicate elegance.<\/p>\n

Little Bluestem grows in dense clusters, and is a warm season species that thrives on the sun and likes well-drained soil.\u00a0 It is very heat and drought tolerant and does well in a variety of situations.\u00a0 It is fairly easy to grow from seed but seedlings are often slow to get established.\u00a0 There is a great range of diversity in this plant but the colors generally range from shades of red, purple, greens, blue, copper and gold (often all of these colors are present in one plant throughout the seasons.)\u00a0 The color changes throughout the season\u00a0give year round interest.<\/p>\n

We use little bluestem in mass or scattered throughout sunny perennial beds.\u00a0 It\u2019s makes an excellent background for showy perennials and ground covers.\u00a0 It\u2019s color and form provide a wonderful sense of movement and dynamics to a landscape, and it plays nicely with perennials, shrubs and other grasses.<\/p>\n

Many Little Bluestem cultivars and selections have been released both for forage value and as \u201cimproved\u201d landscaping varieties.\u00a0 Some of our favorites include \u2018The Blues\u2019, \u2018Praire Blues\u2019 and \u2018Blaze\u2019.\u00a0 \u2018Cimmaron\u2019 is a native Oklahoma selection from the 70\u2019s that is harder to find but a good choice for our region.\u00a0 Although we generally like to avoid patented plants there are a few new patented Little Bluestems that offer very unique color and growth habits including \u2018Smoke Signal\u2019, \u2018Twilight Zone\u2019 and \u2018Prairie Munchkin\u2019.\u00a0 If you venture out into most rural areas of Oklahoma chances are that you will see a wide variety of local specimens that have interesting and unique traits that are likely to adapt well to your landscape.\u00a0 These local ecotypes could be your ideal \u201cvariety\u201d.<\/p>\n

Little Bluestem benefits a wide diversity of wildlife both as nesting and roosting habitat as well for food in the form of it seed and as forage.\u00a0 It is also the host plant for a number of butterflies.\u00a0 As Oklahoma\u2019s native grasses and plants become more and more rare in many of our most populated areas it is important to bring this beautiful grass back into our landscapes.\u00a0 With it\u2019s combination of beauty, hardiness, versatility and ease of growth there is no reason why any Oklahoma garden should be without it.<\/p>\n

\"Little<\/a>

Little Bluestem field Lake Arcadia<\/p><\/div>\n

\"backlit<\/a>

backlit seedheads<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Type: Perennial Bunchgrass Height:\u00a0 1 to 4 ft. (average height 3 ft.) Spread: 1-2 ft. Origin: Much of the U.S. including most Oklahoma counties Exposure:\u00a0 Full Sun to Part Sun Water: Medium to dry.\u00a0 Can tolerate some wetness Edible: n\/a Medicinal: Used as a switch in sweat lodge ceremonies Companions: Echinacea (pallida, angustifolia, purpurea), Agastache, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[21,139,136,92,123],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-favorite-plants","tag-landscaping","tag-little-bluestem","tag-norman-oklahoma","tag-oklahoma","tag-oklahoma-city","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":560,"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553\/revisions\/560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ecogardenok.com\/ecolandscaping\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}