Ornamental Grasses for Iowa
Ornamental Grass Gallery - Ornamental Grass List
Ornamental grasses are becoming more popular as garden and landscaping plants, offering interesting textures not often found in other ornamental plants. Most of Iowa is well suited for growing grasses, having been originally covered with an inland sea of grasses, the waves formed by the wind.
Many of our native prairie grasses and woodland grasses are beautiful and can be used in the garden. Only a few native species are currently in use. The most easily purchased ornamental grasses are non-native, introduced species. Some of these introduced species are benign, while others have the potential to become invasive weeds. Amur silvergrass (Miscanthus sacchariflorus) is one species that has become invasive in Iowa.
This site has only information about members of the true grass family, Poaceae. Some plants that belong to other plant families look very much like grasses but will not be treated here. More ornamental grass species and cultivars will be added to this section of the Grasses of Iowa site over the next year.
Perennials - introduced species
feather reed
grass, Calamagrostis x acutiflora
blue oatgrass, Helictotrichon
sempervirens
Japanese silvergrass, Miscanthus sinensis
purple moor
grass, Molinia caerulea
perennial fountain
grass, Pennisetum alopecuroides
tender fountain
grass, Pennisetum setaceum
Perennials - native species
side-oats
grama grass, Bouteloua curtipendula
northern sea oats, Chasmanthium
latifolium
little bluestem, Schizachyrium
scoparium
prairie dropseed, Sporobolus
heterolepis
switchgrass, Panicum
virgatum
Native species with ornamental potential (full sun)
big bluestem, Andropogon gerardii
blue grama grass, Bouteloua gracilis
purple lovegrass, Eragrostis spectabilis
Native species with ornamental potential (shade)
bearded shorthusk, Brachyelytrum erectum
Annuals
cultivated oats, Avena sativa
green cat (finger millet), Eleusine
coracana
bunny tail grass, Lagurus
ovatus
giant burgundy fountain grass, Pennisetum ‘Burgundy
Giant’
rabbit's foot grass, Polypogon
monspeliensis
sorghum, Sorghum
bicolor
Links
Nebraska Cooperative Extension-Ornamental Grasses
University of Illinois Extension-Ornamental Grasses
Noble Foundation-Grass image gallery
Bibliography
Darke, Rick. 1999. The Color Encylopedia of Ornamental Grasses: sedges, rushes, restios, cat-tails, and selected bamboos. Timber Press: Portland, Oregon.
Greenlee, John. 1992. The Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses: How to Grow and Use Over 250 Beautiful and Versatile Plants. Michael Friedman Publishing Group, Inc.: New York.
Grounds, Roger. 1989. Ornamental Grasses. Christopher Helm: London.
King, Michael, and Piet Oudolf. 1998. Gardening with Grasses. Timber Press: Portland, Oregon.
Oaks, A. J. 1990. Ornamental Grasses and Grasslike Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York.
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