Indian Grass

Growing Indian Grass

Pairs with big bluestem to recreate the high prairie. The shimmering bronze flower heads are spectacular backlit by a low sun.

Where it belongs

Indian grass ranged with big bluestem across the tallgrass prairie and into the open woodlands of the East, from New England to the Plains and south to Texas. The two are the classic pairing, and a planting with both reads immediately as prairie rather than as a bed with grasses in it.

Where big bluestem's interest is in its foliage color and its three-parted seed head, this one's is in the flower plume: a narrow upright panicle of bronze and gold, held a foot or more above the leaves, with bright yellow anthers hanging from it when it opens.

Growing it

Full sun, dry to medium soil, in loam, clay, or sand, zones 4 to 9. Four to seven feet in flower.

A warm-season grass. It emerges late, grows through the heat, and flowers in late summer, so the display arrives in September and holds into winter.

Give it lean soil and full sun. In rich or shaded conditions the stems grow soft and lean over, and no amount of staking makes a large grass look right.

The foliage is blue-green and slightly coarser than big bluestem's. The plant forms a clump and expands slowly at the base; it reseeds moderately in open ground.

Site it where afternoon or evening light comes through it from behind. The plumes are metallic and catch low sun in a way that is genuinely the reason to grow this plant rather than another.

What it feeds

Seed feeds sparrows, juncos, and other ground-feeding birds through fall and winter, and standing clumps give them cover to feed under.

It is a larval host for several skippers and moths. In larger plantings the dense bases are used for nesting by grassland birds, which have declined sharply as prairie and hayfield habitat has been lost.

The stems and litter shelter overwintering insects, which is a reason to leave the planting standing until spring rather than cutting it in fall.

Living with it

Deer leave it alone, and it is drought tolerant once established.

Plan for the size. This is a back-of-planting or meadow-matrix grass, not something to put at a path edge. Sideoats grama or prairie dropseed fills that role at a third of the height.

Cut back in late March. Cutting in fall removes the winter structure, the bird food, and the insect shelter all at once.

Sources: USDA PLANTS Database (native range); Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin (species profile); USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (plant guide); Cornell Lab of Ornithology (grassland bird habitat and decline).

It’s deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, good fall color, and good for winter interest.

Where it grows

Indian Grass is native to the Northeast. In the wild you’ll find it across Alabama · Arkansas · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa and 32 more states. Always confirm it suits your specific county with your state native plant society before planting.

Regional Garden has written state guides covering Indian Grass in 42 of them so far.

Good for