Schizachyrium scoparium Blaze

Schizachyrium scoparium is a little known and rarely used perennial grass in our gardens (perhaps due to its unpronounceable Latin name!). However, it is an absolutely beautiful grass of North American prairies, perhaps the most beautiful of all. It is of good size, very colourful, and is extremely easy to grow. 'Blaze' is a cultivar of a size close to the typical species, reaching 80cm (32in) to 1m (3ft) in height, noted for its bright red autumn colouration. Its foliage undergoes a small revolution throughout the seasons: blue-grey in spring, grey-green in summer, tinged with purple highlights in late summer, before exploding into a parade of intense autumnal colours, from orange pink to purple-red and finally bright red. In late summer and autumn, it produces delicate inflorescences, which are fully revealed under the light as they dry in a silvery shade on purple stems.

Schizachyrium scoparium, formerly named Andropogon scoparius, is a plant of the Poaceae family, endemic to the high plains of North America, but also present from Quebec to Mexico. It is known as little blue stem or beard grass. Vigorous, extremely robust, accustomed to tough competition with other plants, and adapted to difficult conditions, it withstands cold and drought, and thrives in poor soils. It is the chosen grass to officially represent the states of Nebraska and Kansas. 'Blaze' is a selection developed in 1967 in Nebraska as a forage plant. It has since conquered the world of nurseries thanks to its striking foliage. With a distinctly upright habit and changing colouration, the plant forms a tussock 80cm (32in) to 1m (3ft) high when in flower, 40cm (16in) wide, slowly spreading to form an upright bush. It consists of a low rosette of soft, linear leaves, and upright stems among which delicate inflorescences appear in late summer. These are narrow clusters, measuring 3 to 15cm (1 to 6in) long, bearing slender white spikelets, maturing to a bluish-grey to silvery hue, and then to pink-red. Towards mid-September, the entire plant takes on orange, copper, and red hues, becoming increasingly intense until November, before fading to a straw tone. This colouration is even more pronounced in regions experiencing large temperature variations in autumn.

Schizachyrium scoparium 'Blaze' has the enormous advantage, compared to many other grasses, of remaining upright and decorative until the heart of winter. It withstands everything except heavy, waterlogged soils, and as such, it is very useful in the ornamentation of dry gardens or in poor, infertile, or sandy soils. It pairs well with Russian sages, catmints, shrubby salvias, coneflowers, red-hot pokers, and shrubby wormwoods. To create a contrast of forms, it can be paired with hybrid mulleins or hollyhocks.