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Sometimes a native plant has such a wonderful name that you can't help but be intrigued. Such is the case with purple lovegrass.
Who cannot love a grass whose seeds, and the stalks bearing them, are tinged with purple at the height of summer, giving the entire mound a hazy pink glow? As summer gives way to fall, the pink fades to shades of blush and beige, and the finely textured stalks capture morning dew. As the Latin name also suggests, this grass is spectacular.
The geographic range of purple lovegrass is impressive, too. It can be found in the wild in just about every US state east of the Continental Divide (skipping just Montana), and also in Arizona.
Purple lovegrass thrives in full sun in sandy soil, as the photo at left, taken on the Salt Pond trail in Eastham, demonstrates. It shrugs off the hot, dry spells of peak summer that make many other plants wilt. In moister and more fertile soils, in fact, it will be outcompeted by taller perennials.
For all its toughness, purple lovegrass is delicate in appearance. It makes a neat mound about 12 inches high excluding the seed stalks, which may reach another foot in height, and the seeds create a scrim-like effect before and between taller plants. To ensure it pops in a garden bed, purple lovegrass should be planted in small groups.
For those of us with "Cape Cod lawns," purple lovegrass may be a solution if planted on a larger scale. The North Carolina extension service says purple lovegrass "can be mowed a few times a year if it is being used as a lawn alternative that is exposed to light foot traffic."
What’s not to love?
Every month, Meg Voorhes profiles a different native plant for the Mayflower Point Association in Orleans, where she lives. Thank you, Meg, and Orleans Pond Coalition, for sharing this month's native plant.
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