FoliageIn the landscape
Data sources
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
Little Bluestem is a medium-growing perennial, hardy in USDA zones 3-9, that matures to about 2-4 ft × 1.5-2 ft. It does best in full sun with low water needs in well-drained, moist and occasionally-dry soil. Expect purple blooms in winter and summer. It attracts butterflies, pollinators and small mammals, stands up well to black walnut, deer and drought, grows happily in containers.
- USDA zones
- 3-9
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Low
- Mature size
- 2-4 ft × 1.5-2 ft
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Maintenance
- Low
- Soil
- Well-drained, Moist, Occasionally-dry
- Bloom color
- Purple
- Bloom season
- Winter, Summer
- Attracts
- Butterflies, Pollinators, Small mammals, Songbirds
- Tough against
- Black walnut, Deer, Drought, Dry soil, Heat, Humidity, Pests, Pollution
- Native to
- Eastern North America
Freeze survival
Will it survive your winters?
We score Little Bluestem’s freeze-trouble range against the real coldest nights your area has recorded.
Powered by ~35 years of daily lows from the nearest NOAA weather station. A risk read, not a guarantee — a sheltered spot or mature plant beats the odds.
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