Panicum Prairie Winds® 'Niagara Falls'

Panicum Prairie Winds® 'Niagara Falls': Powder-Blue Fountain Frozen Mid-Pour

Wide, powder-blue blades that arch over and spill down like water over a ledge. 'Niagara Falls' brings all the drama of the real thing with ZERO TOUR BUSES.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Panicum virgatum 'Niagara Falls'
• Common Name: Switch Grass
• Series: Prairie Winds®, a Proven Winners® perennial
• Height: 120 cm (4 ft)
• Spread: 120 cm (4 ft)
• Flowers: Airy tan panicles that ripen into cream seed heads in fall
• Bloom Time: Late summer through fall (August to October)
• Foliage: Powder-blue, wide and arching, with a look closer to Miscanthus than to most switch grasses
• Features: Salt and wind tolerant, fall and winter interest

Where to Plant: Give it room, since it grows about as wide as it is tall and fills space fast. That makes it handy for mass plantings, slopes and the middle of a big border, and its salt tolerance suits beds along driveways and roads.

Companion Plants: Plant 'Niagara Falls' in a sunny, dry bed where its arching blue blades spill over white and orange. Delosperma 'Jewel of Desert Grenade' carpets the front at 10 to 15 cm with orange-red flowers from May to September. Echinacea Prairie Splendor™ Compact White adds white coneflowers at 35 to 40 cm from June to September. Perovskia 'Little Spire' brings compact lavender-blue spires at 60 to 75 cm from July to September. Iris 'Clarence' opens fragrant blue and white bearded iris at 75 to 90 cm in June.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun. It grows in poor to fertile soil and takes dry to evenly moist conditions once settled. Avoid heavy shade, where it can flop. Water through the first season while the roots grow in. Leave the foliage and seed heads standing over winter. Cut back to about 10 cm (4 in) in early spring, before new growth starts. Like all switch grass, it starts late in spring, so give it time. Divide in spring every few years if the clump thins in the middle.

History: Switch grass is a key grass of the North American tallgrass prairie, native from southern Canada to Mexico, including southern Ontario. 'Niagara Falls' is part of the Prairie Winds® collection from Walters Gardens in Michigan, sized between 'Apache Rose' and 'Totem Pole'.

Final Thoughts: Wind tolerant, salt tolerant, deer resistant and no rain poncho required. Plant one and charge the neighbours admission. HONEYMOONERS WELCOME.