Every year the Perennial Plant Association selects a plant to feature for the following year at their yearly symposium. This year’s choice is Schizachyrium scoparium, little bluestem grass. This is only the second time since 1990 that a grass was selected. The first being Panicum virgatum, ‘Northwind’ in 2014.
Little bluestem is a mid-sized grass native to the prairies across most of North America. It performs well in sunny spots with lean soils and is very drought tolerant. It is an attractive grass with an upright clumping habit and lovely blue-green leaves usually growing three to four feet tall. In the fall, instead of a plume at the top as many familiar grasses, it flowers along the stems giving a more delicate appearance. The foliage also takes on a reddish-purple hue.
We leave it standing over the winter and the foliage fades to a caramel-tan. It holds up well to snow and provides winter interest in the garden. We have a mass of straight species growing on the hillside behind greenhouse 8 and have three plants of the cultivar ‘Standing Ovation’ in the flower bed behind greenhouse 6. I am impressed with its toughness and understated beauty. The form blends well with native asters, coneflowers and black eyed Susans. The colors also complement purple Stachys and Alliums. In the greenhouse we grow ‘Blue Heaven’ which is slightly taller than ‘Standing Ovation’ and will have two new cultivars ‘Shining Star’ and ‘Carousel’ in the fall.
The PPA is a varied group of educators, growers and perennial enthusiasts and this year Lancaster is the host city. I have had the pleasure of helping in a small way to plan the event and am looking forward to seeing colleagues again, after a two-year hiatus. Monday August 1st is the Perennial Plant Education day which is geared to the public featuring five speakers on the theme of native friendly gardening and pollinators. More information can be found on their website https://perennialplant.org/
Here is the complete list of past winners if you are looking for a place to start with perennial gardening.
2022- Schizachyrium scoparium
2021-Calamintha nepeta sp nepeta
2020-Aralia cordata -Sun King’
2019-Stachys ‘Humelo’
2018-Allium ‘Millenium’
2017—Asclepias tuberosa– Butterfly weed
2016- Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’
2015- Geranium ‘Biokovo
2014- Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’
2013- Polygonatum odorotum variegatum
2012- Brunnera Jack Frost
2011–Amsonia hubrichtii
2010- Baptisia australis
2009– Hackonechloa macra ‘Aureola’
2008– Geranium ‘Rozanne’ – Crane’s Bill
2007– Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low - Catmint
2006– Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’ –
2005– Helleborous Hybrids – Lenten Rose
2004– Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’ - Japanese Painted Fern
2003– Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Becky’ –
2002 – Phlox paniculata ‘David’ – Garden Phlox
2001 – Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ -
2000 – Scabiosa columbaria ‘Butterfly Blue’
1999 – Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldstrum’
1998 – Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’
1997 – Salvia ‘May Night’ – Garden Sage
1996 – Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’ –
1995 – Perovskia atriplicifolia – Russian Sage
1994 – Astilbe simplicifolia ‘Sprite’ –
1993 – Veronica ‘Sunny Border Blue’ – Speedwell
1992 – Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’ – Tickseed
1991 – Heuchera micrantha ‘Palace Purple’ – Coral Bells
1990 – Phlox stolonifera – Creeping Phlox
