Page 16 - Free State Winter 2021

GROWING WITH EDUCATION (Continued) the foliage with reddish brown flowers that mature to

grow 2-4 feet tall and up to 2 feet wide and thrives in full fringed seeds with silvery white hairs that decorate the
sun, tolerating a wide range of soils, high humidity and winter landscape. ‘Blue Heaven’ can tolerate various soil
heat of the Maryland summers. The pink tinged stems conditions from clay to sandy soils, dry to occasional
hold the blue tinted slender foliage through the summer wet soils, and will grow well even in very poor soils.
until the cool autumn temperatures turn the foliage Another colorful Little Bluestem is Schizachyrium
burgundy red. Late summer brings the purplish flowers scoparium ‘Carousel’, named for the blue-green to
that sit on 3-inch long racemes on top of branched green foliage with steaks of pink in summer, copper,
stems that rise above the foliage. Flowers mature into orange red, beige and mahogany in fall and beige in
silvery white clusters of fluffy seed heads that float winter. Its growing habit is compact with strong upright
above the blueish foliage. Little Bluestem grasses stems that stand 2-2.5 feet tall and wide even in fall and
are winter hardy in USDA zones 3-9. Schizachyrium winter weather. The flowers do not attract attention but
scoparium ‘Blue Heaven’ is another cultivar of the the seed heads with showy plumes of white hairs are
warm season Little Bluestem that has light blue grey very eye catching from autumn to winter. Schizachyrium
foliage through spring and darker blue grey in summer, scoparium ‘Standing Ovation’ grows 2 – 4 feet tall and
turning burgundy red with highlights of pink, and about 2 feet wide with blue leaf blades that are tipped
purples during cooler weather. The slender foliage with red. The cool temperatures of autumn change the
forms in upright broom like clumps 2-4 feet tall and summer blues to shades of reds, oranges and maroons
in late summer the flower stem spears out taller than that stay constant into the winter. The bright white

Muhlenbergia capillaris Pink Muhly grass in mist

16 WINTER 2021 • Free State News