Shining Star Little Bluestem Grass

There are many varieties of the little bluestem grass, but we only bring you the best, those with distinctive features – like the Shining Star™ Little Bluestem Grass. You might be expecting ‘blue’, but no, this shining little beauty features wonderful variegated leaves, in varying stripes of cream and green, making a colorful mound of arching leaves. That’s a great look already, but when the nights start to cool it’s time to bring on the colors, as the cream turns to light pink and the green to dark pink, gradually spreading from the leaf tips down until the whole plant is a pink glory. More compact than other varieties, the foliage mound stands no more than 18 inches tall. In summer taller flower spikes rise up to 2 or 3 feet, slender, branching structures carrying red-brown grass flowers that become seeds covered in silvery-white hairs. The whole look is exciting and very different, adding variety to your collection of ornamental grasses. Tough and sun-loving, this is a great plant for edging a bed or bringing color to a sunny rock garden. Grow it on slopes, around woodlands, or in prairie-style plantings with other perennials, from asters to cone-flowers.

• Gracefully striped leaves in cream and green
• Cold weather turns the leaves to varying shades of pinks
• Taller flower heads carry red-brown flowers and silver seeds
• Thrives in heat, humidity and sun, and tolerates drought
• A native plant from the open prairies

Plant this beauty in the sunniest spot you have – it loves it. The Shining Star™ Little Bluestem Grass will grow in any well-drained soil, from sandy gravels to clay, and tolerates poor, dry soils with ease. It is drought tolerant once established and is normally not eaten by deer. Even in hot and humid conditions it thrives, and is free of pest or disease problems too. It needs attention just once a year, anytime between late fall and early spring. Cut back the foliage to just a couple of inches, but do this before the new leaves start to show, or you will cut them too.