Schizachyrium 'Ha Ha Tonka'

Schizachyrium 'Ha Ha Tonka': Fuzzy Blades Built for Backlighting

This little bluestem stands so stiff and upright it looks like it's waiting to be called into a job interview. Blue-green blades streaked with red, then a full copper makeover in fall. NO SLOUCHING ON THIS PROPERTY.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Schizachyrium scoparium 'Ha Ha Tonka'
• Common Name: Little Bluestem
• Height: 90–120 cm (3–4 ft)
• Spread: 45–60 cm (1.5–2 ft)
• Flowers: Fine, bronze-purple flower spikes that turn into fluffy seed heads lasting into winter
• Bloom Time: Late summer into early fall (August to September)
• Foliage: Blue-green blades tinged with red, orange and grey, densely hairy; red, orange and copper in fall
• Features: Rigid upright habit, clay tolerant, salt tolerant, fall and winter interest
• Plant Patent: USPP 32,374

Where to Plant: Plant it where low morning or evening sun can shine through the clump for the full halo effect. It's a natural for prairie and meadow plantings and naturalistic borders. It tolerates clay, salt and dry soil, so it's useful along driveways and boulevards.

Companion Plants: Gaura 'Monarch Pink' brings wiry stems of pink flowers at 45 to 60 cm from June to September, a light, airy partner for the grass. Liatris cylindracea adds upright purple spikes at 23 to 60 cm from July to September. For a bold backdrop, plant Persicaria polymorpha, which reaches 120 to 180 cm with cream plumes from June to August. Give the group full sun and let the bluestem take the stage from August on.

Plant Care: Plant it in full sun and average, well-drained soil. Skip the fertilizer. Lean soil keeps little bluestem upright. Water through the first season, then only during long dry spells. It's a warm-season grass and starts late in spring. Leave the stems standing over winter, then cut them back to about 10 cm (4 in) in early spring before new growth appears. Divide in spring if the clump starts to die out in the centre.

History: 'Ha Ha Tonka' was selected in 2016 in Weinheim, Germany, by Cassian Schmidt, grown from little bluestem seed he collected at Ha Ha Tonka State Park in Missouri. Schmidt and Dutch designer Piet Oudolf made the final selections together, and it is introduced as part of the Piet Oudolf Collection.

Final Thoughts: Clay, salt, drought, hungry deer. It shrugs at all of it. TOUGH AS A ROADSIDE SNOWBANK.