Schizachyrium scoparium Standing Ovation

Schizachyrium scoparium 'Standing Ovation' is a little-known perennial grass that is rarely used in our gardens (perhaps due to its unpronounceable name!). However, it is a beautiful native grass of North American prairies, perhaps the most beautiful of all. It has a good size, beautiful colours, and is extremely easy to grow. Its foliage undergoes a small revolution throughout the seasons, changing from blue-grey with a violet base and a pink tip in summer, to bright orange and then vibrant red at the end of the season. The autumn flowering blooms among this flamboyant foliage, in delicate inflorescences that may seem timid at first, but then reveal themselves under the light, drying to a silvery shade on purple stems. 'Standing Ovation' undoubtedly brings a picturesque touch to the garden.

Schizachyrium scoparium, formerly known as Andropogon scoparius, is a plant from the Poaceae family, endemic to the high plains of North America, but also found from Quebec to Mexico. Vigorous, accustomed to tough competition with other plants and well-adapted to difficult conditions, it withstands the cold and drought, and copes with poor soils without flinching.

'Standing Ovation' is a recent selection with an upright habit, wider leaves, and a changing and very distinct colouration. The plant forms a 1.2m (4ft) tall clump when in flower, 40cm (16in) wide, slowly spreading to form an upright bush. It consists of a low rosette of flexible, linear leaves, and upright stems among which appear delicate inflorescences in late summer or autumn (September-October). These are narrow clusters, measuring 3 to 15cm (1 to 6in) long, bearing slender spikelets. They are white at first, maturing to a bluish-grey to silvery hue, and then to pink-red. Around mid-September, the entire plant takes on orange, copper, and red hues, intensifying until November, and then turning purple before wilting to a straw colour. This colouration is even more pronounced in regions with large temperature variations in autumn.

Schizachyrium scoparium 'Standing Ovation' has the huge advantage of remaining upright, without wilting, unlike many other grasses, making it decorative until the heart of winter. It can withstand almost anything except heavy, waterlogged soils, and as such, it is useful in ornamental dry gardens or in poor, infertile or sandy soils. It pairs well with perovskias, nepetas, shrubby salvias, echinaceas, kniphofias, and shrubby artemisias. For a contrast in forms, it can be paired with hybrid mulleins or hollyhocks.