Prairie Dropseed Grass
Sporobolis heterolepis
Plant Details
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 3a-9b Find Your Zone
Plant Type: Ornamental Grass, Perennial, Groundcover
Height at Maturity: Foliage to 18″, flowers to 3′
Width at Maturity: 2 to 2.5′
Spacing: 2′ for mass plantings, 5′ or more for space between plants
Spacing: 2′ for mass plantings, 5′ or more for space between plants
Growth Habit / Form: Mounding, Clumping, Grassy, Arching
Growth Rate: Moderate
Flower Color: Pink tinted Cream
Flower Size: Tiny in airy panicles
Flowering Period: Late Summer into Fall
Flower Type: Panicle
Fragrant Flowers: Yes, Coriander-like fragrance
Foliage Color: Green in Summer turns Gold with Orange hues in Fall and then Light Bronze in the Winter
Fragrant Foliage: No
Berries: NA
Berry Color: NA
Sun Needs: Full to Part Sun, minimum of 6 hours sun per day
Water Needs: Average to Low when established
Soil Type: Clay, Loam, Sandy, Silty
Soil Moisture / Drainage: Moist But Well Drained to Dry
Soil pH: 6.0 – 8.0
Maintenance / Care: Very Low
Attracts: Visual Attention, Birds
Resistances: Air Pollution, Black Walnut, Deer, Disease, Erosion, Heat, Humidity, Insect, Rabbits, Dry Soil, Drought Tolerant
Special Attributes
A highly adaptable and easy-to-grow North American native grass that brings elegance to any landscape or garden. Considered by many ornamental grass enthusiasts to be the most handsome of the prairie grasses, Prairie Dropseed forms an 18 inch tall and wide arching foliage mound from which rise panicles of tiny pink-tinted cream flowers that float like a cloud on thin stems up to 36 inches high. The bloom occurs in late summer into fall and the flowers have a unique fragrance reminiscent of coriander. In fall the foliage color turns to attractive hues of goldish orange before fading to light bronze in winter. Prairie Dropseed makes a distinctive border and is outstanding in mass plantings or in pots planters and other containers.
If you’re wondering how this plant got it’s name, tiny rounded mature seeds drop to the ground from their hulls in fall. Plains Indians ground the seed to make a tasty flour.
Landscape & Garden Uses
Growing to 18 inches tall and 2 to 3 feet wide, the Prairie Dropseed Grass is ideal for use as an accent in small garden spaces and containers or as a border along paths, walkways and patios. It is also great for use in mass plantings to beautify and control erosion on slopes, hillsides and embankments. A fine addition to rock gardens, ornamental grass gardens, native gardens and prairie gardens.
Spacing: 1.5 feet apart for mass plantings; 5 feet or more for space between plants
How To Measure for Total Square Feet
How Many Plants to Fill a Planting Area
Growing Preferences
A North American native grass, Prairie Dropseed Grass is very easy to grow in a wide range of soil from clay to sandy, and moist but well-drained to dry soils. It performs its best in full to part sun. We suggest 6 hours of sunlight per day. Maintenance is minimal. If foliage browns during winter you can cut it back to just above the ground in late winter before new growth begins to emerge.
Helpful Articles
Click on the Planting & Care Advice tab on this page to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant, fertilize, prune and water Prairie Dropseed Grass
Plant Long & Prosper!
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