FoliageNorthern Sea Oats
Chasmanthium latifolium
Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) is a medium-growing perennial, hardy in USDA zones 3-8, that matures to about 2-5 ft × 1-2.5 ft. It does best in full sun and part shade with high water needs in moist and occasionally-wet soil. Expect brown, green and purple blooms in summer and fall. It attracts butterflies, pollinators and small mammals, stands up well to black walnut, deer and drought, grows happily in containers.
- USDA zones
- 3-8
- Sun
- Full sun, Part shade
- Water
- High
- Mature size
- 2-5 ft × 1-2.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Maintenance
- Low
- Soil
- Moist, Occasionally-wet
- Bloom color
- Brown, Green, Purple
- Bloom season
- Summer, Fall
- Attracts
- Butterflies, Pollinators, Small mammals, Songbirds
- Tough against
- Black walnut, Deer, Drought, Erosion, Salt, Wet soil
- Native to
- Eastern United States, northern Mexico
In the landscape
Data sources
Freeze survival
Will it survive your winters?
Hardiness zones show a normal bad winter. We check the worst one — Northern Sea Oats is hardy to about -40°F (estimated from USDA zone 3), so we'll score it against the real coldest nights your area has actually had.
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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