Grass, Bunch Alkali Sacaton Sporobolus airoides Plant Height: 3 feet Flower Height: 4 feet Spread: 24 inches
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Hardiness Zone: 4a Other Names: Zacate Alcalino, syn. Agrostis airoides Description: Native to western North America, this fine-textured, warm season bunch grass features spikelets of yellow florets that become graceful, open seed heads over the narrow, gray-green foliage; very adaptable, and highly tolerant of alkaline soils Ornamental Features Grass, Bunch Alkali Sacaton features delicate plumes of yellow flowers rising above the foliage from early to late summer. The gold seed heads are carried on showy plumes with pink overtones and which fade to tan over time, which are displayed in abundance from late summer to late fall. Its grassy leaves are grayish green in color with hints of silver. As an added bonus, the foliage turns a gorgeous harvest gold in the fall. Landscape Attributes Grass, Bunch Alkali Sacaton is an open herbaceous perennial grass with a shapely form and gracefully arching stems. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect. This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics. Grass, Bunch Alkali Sacaton is recommended for the following landscape applications; Planting & Growing Grass, Bunch Alkali Sacaton will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity extending to 4 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 24 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen! This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. To help this plant achive its best flowering performance, periodically apply a flower-boosting fertilizer from early spring through into the active growing season. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for poor, alkaline soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is native to parts of North America..
