Native Ornamental Grass Seeds

Splitbeard bluestem is a native warm season, perennial bunchgrass. The plants usually begin growth in April and reach a mature height of 2 to 4 feet. The leaves can be glaucous, glabrous, or loosely villous. The leaf sheaths are villous and often purplish in appearance.

The Buffalo Grass is a warm-season grass that is the predominant component of the shortgrass prairies of the Great Plains. Once established, it is extremely drought tolerant and tough. It can be used as a xeriscape lawn grass for water conservation, and it is a common component in range mixtures. White Tailed Deer, Bison and Prairie Dogs utilize it for forage, and it is a larval host for the Green Skipper. Plants are stoloniferous and can invade flower beds if an edging or barrier is not used.

The Indiangrass is a warm-season bunchgrass that is native to central and eastern North America and provides cover and food for wildlife. This grass can reach up to seven feet tall and is a common species of the Tallgrass Prairie. The beautiful, plume-like seed heads are very ornamental making them excellent for prairie and conservation mixtures.

Switchgrass is a rhizomatous, warm-season bunchgrass that is native throughout most of the U.S. It is a major component of the Tallgrass Prairie ecosystem. Alamo originates from Live Oak County, Texas. It is late maturing and was developed as a renewable biofuel resource for the southern U.S. Recommended for pasture mixes, erosion control and soil stabilization. It also provides good nesting habitat, cover and food for many different types of wildlife.

Also know as Bush Bluestem, this perennial grass is a tufting, sturdy, warm-season grass that will grow up to 4'. The foliage has a reddish tint. Interesting, beard-like flowers appear in fall. This plant prefers moist to damp sites and is not drought tolerant.

Carex comosa is a large tufted wetland sedge. The narrow leaves are lime green and shiny. In late spring triangular culms rise above the foliage to 5’ bearing large chartreuse bottlebrush shaped spikes. Attractive warm brown seed spikes follow. This bold sedge flourishes in sun or part sun in damp or wet sites. Plants prosper in difficult wet mucky soils or even in shallow water.

Indian Steel is a clump-forming perennial grass with an upright, open habit typically growing upwards of 5' tall. Under the right circumstances it can be 7-8' tall. Features slender (1/2" wide), blue-green leaf blades (8-12" long) which turn yellow in fall and retain some gold color throughout the winter.

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) is a native North American prairie grass with a rich history as a foundational species in tallgrass ecosystems, valued for its resilience and ecological benefits. It features fine-textured, upright blue-green blades that turn striking shades of red, orange, and bronze in the fall, reaching about 2–4 feet tall. Adapted to a wide range of soils, it thrives in full sun with minimal water or fertilizer once established, making it ideal for xeriscaping and low-maintenance landscapes.

Hairy Wood Chess, also known as Hairy Woodland Brome, is a cool-season native grass of North American woodlands; it was once grouped with other Bromus species. Its dark leaves and tall clumps give structure to lightly shaded, moderately moist sites. Wild Turkeys, Ruffed Grouse, and small mammals eat its seeds, while deer and rabbits browse young growth. Plant it where a woodland edge needs a taller native grass.

Riverbank Wild Rye is native to the eastern United States and has long occupied streambanks and other riparian corridors. Its roots help hold soil, making it useful in modern erosion-control plantings. Songbirds and waterfowl use the stems for cover and nesting material and feed among the seeds. Give this cool-season grass partial shade and medium to wet soil.

Blue Joint Grass is a widespread North American wetland grass with a long natural role in streamside and meadow plant communities. Pink-green summer seed heads rise above rhizomes that help hold damp soil in place. Its dense growth offers cover for wetland insects and birds, and it can spread quickly across restoration sites. Give it full sun to partial shade and moist to wet ground.

Virginia Wild Rye has long filled forest edges and damp clearings in eastern North America. Its quick growth and ready reseeding make it useful as a native cover crop and for streambank stabilization. Birds use the seed-bearing stems for food and cover, and insects inhabit the grass. It tolerates sun to shade and moist ground, with tan and crimson fall color.

Silky Wild Rye is a native grass of eastern North American deciduous woods, where its nodding, bristly heads rise above the understory. Like other Elymus grasses, it grows most strongly in cool spring and fall weather and may be relatively short lived. Its stems give woodland birds and insects cover, and the grain can add forage for seed eaters. Plant in partial or full shade with medium moisture.

Fowl Manna Grass is one of North America's most widespread wetland grasses, occurring from shaded woodland pools to open marshes. Its airy panicles and soft foliage provide cover for small animals. Geese graze the leaves, and the moth Elachista irrorata uses it as a host plant. Grow it in sun or shade on moist to wet soil.

Bottlebrush Grass was once classified as Hystrix patula, a historical name that points to its bristly, brush-shaped seed heads. This native of eastern North American woods grows during cool spring and fall weather. Northern Pearly-eye caterpillars use it as a host, and birds forage among its stems and seeds. Grow in partial shade to shade on medium to moderately dry soil.

River Oats was once listed as Uniola latifolia and is also known as Northern Sea Oats. This native of eastern North American woods and streambanks carries flat, dangling seed heads that turn gold in fall and have long been used in dried arrangements. Birds and small mammals eat the grain, and Pepper and Salt Skipper caterpillars use the grass. Give it partial shade and medium to moist soil; allow room for self-seeding.

Wood Reed Grass is native from eastern Canada through the eastern and central United States, where it grows in damp woods and thickets. Its tall, wavy seed panicles turn tan late in summer, adding movement to shaded plantings. Seed heads and dense stems give birds forage and cover, while deer usually leave mature stands alone. Grow it in partial to full shade and moist, fertile soil.

Rice Cut Grass has a wide history across world wetlands and is native to North American floodplains and pond margins. Its sharp-edged leaves explain the common name and can form dense stands. Least Skipper larvae use the grass, adults feed in its habitat, and waterfowl eat the seed. Plant in sun or partial shade on wet, preferably silty soil.

June Grass, also called Prairie Junegrass and formerly Koeleria cristata, flowers early in North American upland prairies. Silvery-green seed plumes turn tan by midsummer, giving dry plantings fine texture. Birds can feed on the small seeds and use the tufted grass for cover. Choose full sun and lean, sandy or gravelly soil.

Sand Dropseed is a fine-textured native warm-season bunchgrass that produces open, airy panicles above narrow green leaves. Mature panicles release abundant seed, giving this grass its descriptive common name and feeding small birds and mammals. It thrives in full sun and dry, sandy ground where many ornamentals struggle. Deep-rooted clumps suit xeriscapes, erosion-control projects, and resilient prairie restorations.

Purple Love Grass grows low to the ground in dense tufts, 8-18" tall. In late summer the fine-textured, stiff inflorescence appears like reddish-purple clouds hovering at ground level. Eventually this inflorescence breaks off and floats around like a tumbleweed.