Blue Paradise Little Bluestem - 72-Cell Plug Tray

Blue Paradise is a native little bluestem with a very upright, columnar habit that holds its shape through fall. At about 3½ feet tall, it makes a fine backdrop in native and prairie gardens.

Its stems are a silvery blue in summer, and in fall the leaves turn deep wine purple while small tan seed heads appear along the upper stems. It thrives in hot, dry sites and helps stabilize eroded slopes.

What it looks like

Narrow, silvery blue stems and leaves grow in a strictly upright, columnar clump 36 to 42 inches tall and about 24 inches wide. In early fall, tiny tan seed heads with fluffy silver tufts appear along the top half of the stems. In fall the foliage turns a deep wine purple. At peak the plant is a slim column of wine-purple stems sparkling with pale seed tufts.

Growing it with lavender

Blue Paradise shares lavender's love of hot sun and dry, lean soil, and its silvery blue columns echo lavender's cool tones before turning wine purple in fall.

Care

Plant in full sun in lean to average, well-drained soil; it is very drought tolerant and dislikes wet, rich soil, which can cause flopping or crown rot. Hardy in zones 3 to 9. Leave it standing through winter and cut it back to a few inches in early spring.

At a glance

• Botanical name: Schizachyrium scoparium
• Flower color: Tan
• Foliage: Silvery blue turning deep wine purple in fall
• Growth habit: Upright, columnar clump
• Mature size: 36–42 in tall × 24 in wide
• USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
• Light: full sun
• Bloom start: Late-August
• Peak bloom: Mid-September
• Bloom pattern: Single Flush
• Deer resistance: Resistant
• Pollinator value: Fair

Sizes and shipping

One full 72-cell plug tray: 72 young starter plugs of this variety (cells about 1⅓ in. wide × 2½ in. deep), rooted and ready to pot up into quarts or gallons. Best for growers and nurseries. Potted plants and plug trays ship during our live-plant seasons, March 1–May 31 and October 1–November 30; June through September is local pickup only. Plugs, potted plants and trays do not ship to AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, UT or WA.