Tennessee Smart Yards Native Plants
A comprehensive database of Tennessee native plants
Sideoats Grama
Sideoats GramaBouteloua curtipendulaFull to part sun, medium to dry moisture level, tolerant of a wide range of soils including heavy clay, moderately acid to moderately alkaline pH. 1-2 feet height, blooms mid to late summer, purplish red flowers, self-seeds slowly under optimum conditions.Germination Code: ANative Region: Central Basin and Valley and Ridge provincesEasy to grow, warm season grass. Tough, drought-tolerant and low maintenance. Noted for its distinctive arrangement of oat-like seed spikes which hang from only one side of its flowering stems. Attractive grass for the home landscape. Makes a showy groundcover and can be used for meadow and mass plantings. Good fall color. Attracts birds.grass;sun;medium;clay |
 Photo courtesy of Wikipedia  Photo courtesy of John Hilty http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info |
Tennessee Smart Yards Native Plants 
This is one of my favorite grasses. It is so charming in appearance and I love the flowers. If you look closely, they are easy to see and bright red hanging in a little row on the upper portion of the stem. I keep putting out a lot of seed whenever I get a chance even though I once attended a lecture by a grass specialist who said that this grass is not long-lived in Tennessee. So far once established, mine stick around just fine. It isn’t the most substantial grass species and seems to be more of a nice accent plant. I have never gotten the solid stand pictured above even when I use large quantities of seed. I will have to try larger volumes of seed next time.