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Grass · Poaceae Draft — unreviewed

Blue grama

Bouteloua gracilis (Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths

Also called blue grama.

Fine, low native bunchgrass with eyelash-like seed flags. Used as an unmown meadow or a low-water lawn in the high desert and plains.

Size over time

Typical landscape size 0.3–0.6 m (1–2 ft) tall and 0.3–0.5 m (1 ft) wide; medium growth, about 3 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.25) from the #1 install size.

00.511.52mPlanting0.3 × 0.3 mYear 30.4 × 0.3 mYear 100.4 × 0.4 mMature0.4 × 0.4 m

Bloom

Tan-purple flowers, Jul–Sep (northern-hemisphere months; timing shifts with region and season).

Bloom calendar: months each plant is in bloom
PlantJFMAMJJASOND
Blue grama : Jul–Sep

Design notes

  • Warm-season — greens late in spring.
  • 'Blonde Ambition' is a taller ornamental selection.

Regions

Native range: Great Plains and the Southwest.

Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:

Southwest

Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.

Related plants

Deer grass
Muhlenbergia rigens · Grass · 0.9–1.5 m (3–5 ft)
Mexican feather grass
Nassella tenuissima · Grass · 0.3–0.6 m (1–2 ft)
Shenandoah switchgrass
Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' · Grass · 0.9–1.2 m (3–4 ft)
Little bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium · Grass · 0.6–1.2 m (2–4 ft)
Big sacaton
Sporobolus wrightii · Grass · 1.5–2.1 m (5–7 ft)
Karl Foerster feather reed grass
Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' · Grass · 1.2–1.8 m (4–6 ft)

Plan with Blue grama

Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.

Start designing Try a sample garden