USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 4a-10b  Find Your Zone

Plant Type:  Ornamental Grass

Flower Color:  Purple seedheads

Flower Size:  Small

Flowering Period:  Late Summer through Fall

Flower Type:  Airy cloud

Fragrant Flowers: No

Foliage Color:  Light Blue-Green

Fragrant Foliage:  No 

Berries:  No

Berry Color:  na

Attracts:  Birds, Visual Attention

Resistances:  Cold Temperatures (-30F), Deer - more info, Disease, Drought (when established), Heat, Humidity, Insect, Rabbits, Wet Soil

An exciting new Panicum cultivar discovered and brought to the gardening world by renowned plantsman and designer Piet Oudolf, Purple Tears Switchgrass is destined to become a classic. This regal and delightful selection of our highly adaptable North American native species is adored for its cloud-like plumes of soft gray flowers in summer followed by remarkable purple seed heads held just above the graceful green foliage. The flowers are excellent for use in fresh or dried flower arrangements and quail and songbirds gobble up the tiny seeds while using the sturdy foliage clumps as a cold weather shelter. Forming a graceful clump to 4 feet tall and around 2 to 2.5 feet wide, Purple Tears is a great vertical accent in smaller garden spaces and home foundation plantings or in groupings in sunny landscape borders. As with other Panicum varieties, Purple Tears is just as tough and adaptable and easy to grow, thriving in wet or dry soils of low to average fertility and full blazing sun to part shade. 

North American native Switch Grasses are very easy to grow in a wide range of soil, even clay, sandy and dry soils, though they prefer the soil to be moist. They don't like an organically rich soil so there's no need to add compost or humus to the native soil when planting. Switch Grass grow best in full sun but will tolerate some light shade. That said, too much shade and plants might become floppy. Maintenance is minimal. Cut clumps back to the ground in late winter before new growth begins to emerge.

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