Grass · Deer-resistant
Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula
Also called: Sideoats
The state grass of Texas, hanging its tiny oat-like seeds along one side of each stem, tinged with orange-red pollen. A host for several skipper butterflies.
Growing & care
A backbone species for native meadows and low-water lawns. Cut back in late winter. Thrives on poor, rocky ground with no help.
Bloom season
In bloom: Jun–Aug · Colors: purple, orange
Where to buy
Look for sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) at: Prairie Moon Nursery, native Texas nurseries.
Sources
Range, nomenclature, and the USDA symbol above come from the federal plant record for this species. Check it yourself:
Good for
Plant it with
Natives that pair with sideoats grama
Same conditions, same uses — species that share sideoats grama's growing requirements and belong in the same bed.
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
The backbone grass of the American prairie, turning coppery-mahogany in fall and silver-tufted in winter.
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
An upright prairie grass with airy pink-bronze seed clouds and gold fall color.
Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea
A fine-textured prairie legume with thimbles of purple bloom ringed in orange pollen.
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.
Mexican Hat
Ratibida columnifera
A whimsical prairie flower whose drooping petals form a sombrero beneath a tall central cone.
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..