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Grass · Deer-resistant
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
Also called: Beard Grass
The backbone grass of the American prairie, turning coppery-mahogany in fall and silver-tufted in winter. A larval host for several skipper butterflies.
Growing & care
Full sun keeps it upright; too much shade or water makes it flop. Cut back in late winter. Thrives in poor, dry soil — no fertilizer.
Bloom season
In bloom: Aug–Oct · Colors: bronze, copper
Where to buy
Look for little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) at: Prairie Moon Nursery, native Texas nurseries, Eden Brothers seed.
Sources
Range, nomenclature, and the USDA symbol above come from the federal plant record for this species. Check it yourself:
Schizachyrium scoparium (SCSC) in the USDA PLANTS Database →
Good for
Plant it with
Natives that pair with little bluestem
Same conditions, same uses — species that share little bluestem's growing requirements and belong in the same bed.
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
An upright prairie grass with airy pink-bronze seed clouds and gold fall color.
Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula
The state grass of Texas, hanging its tiny oat-like seeds along one side of each stem, tinged with orange-red pollen.
Fragrant Sumac
Rhus aromatica
A low, spreading shrub that blazes orange-red in fall and holds slopes with its suckering roots.
Gulf Muhly
Muhlenbergia capillaris
For a few weeks each fall this clump grass erupts into a cloud of glowing pink — the most spectacular native ornamental grass for the South..
Buffalograss
Bouteloua dactyloides
North America's true native turf grass — a fine, soft, blue-green sod that forms a low lawn on a fraction of the water Bermuda or St.
Fall Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
A mounding aster that vanishes into the background all summer, then bursts into a haze of blue-purple daisies in October — a lifeline of late nectar for pollinators..