Are there ornamental grasses with colorful fall foliage?

Question:

Are there ornamental grasses with colorful fall foliage?

Answer:

Several ornamental grasses develop good fall color.

  • Switchgrass (Panicum spp.) Switchgrass cultivars with colorful fall foliage include
    • ‘Rehbraun’ (reddish brown)
    • ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ (burgundy red)
    • 'Prairie Fire’ (wine red).
  • Miscanthus. In fall, Miscanthus cultivars have orange-red and golden orange foliage respectively
    • ‘Purpurascens’
    • ‘November Sunset’
  • Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)  Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) has yellow to burnt orange fall color.
    • The fall color of little bluestem cultivar ‘Blaze’ is orange to reddish purple
    • ‘Blue Heaven’ develops a burgundy red color in autumn.
  • Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
    • ‘Red October,’ a cultivar of big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), has burgundy red foliage in fall.
  • Moor grass (Molinia caerulea  ssp. arundinacea)
    • The fall foliage of ‘Cordoba’ purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea  ssp. arundinacea) is golden yellow. 
  • Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)
    • ‘Tara’ prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) develops a orange-red fall color.  

Learn about other perennials with fall color in this article: Perennials with Fall Color.

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Last updated on
September 5, 2024