Grass · Deer-resistant
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
Also called: Tall Panic Grass
An upright prairie grass with airy pink-bronze seed clouds and gold fall color. Deep roots make it a top choice for erosion control, screening, and bird cover.
Growing & care
Adaptable from wet to dry once established. Choose an upright cultivar if you want it to stay vertical. Cut to the ground in late winter; leave standing for winter birds.
Bloom season
In bloom: Aug–Oct · Colors: pink, bronze
Where to buy
Look for switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) 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 switchgrass
Same conditions, same uses — species that share switchgrass'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.
Inland Sea Oats
Chasmanthium latifolium
The rare ornamental grass that thrives in shade, dangling flat, papery seed heads that shift from green to bronze and rustle all winter.
Fragrant Sumac
Rhus aromatica
A low, spreading shrub that blazes orange-red in fall and holds slopes with its suckering roots.
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.
Coralberry
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
A modest suckering shrub for shade that comes into its own in fall, when the arching branches string themselves with clusters of coral-pink berries the birds strip by spring..
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..