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Eragrostis chloromelas (Blue Lovegrass) – An attractive clump-forming warm season grass with narrow powder-blue foliage that rises to about 18"-24" tall (to 3' with ample irrigation). Clumps spread outward slowly with short rhizomes. The 3-foot-tall flowers stalks rise in mid to late spring, opening into a buff-colored haze of flowers that lasts into fall and winter.
It grows well in full sun to light shade in well-drained soil. Good in dry, sandy soil but can tolerate a fair amount of irrigation. Thought to be hardy to USDA 6 (-10° F). This weedy grass makes an attractive specimen plant or massed in a border planting with contrasting colored and textured foliage. Can be used in a natural lawn with only one mowing required in the spring - not tolerant of foot traffic. Attractive to birds and butterflies.
We grew this plant from 2003 until 2010 when it was initially thought to be Eragrostis elliottii native to southeastern U.S (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina) and marked as such by many nurseries. It was later determined to be Eragrostis chloromelas or Eragrostis robusta (both now considered synonymous with Eragrostis curvula). These South African species and the even more common Eragrostis curvula were introduced by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and/or the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for forage and stabilization purposes sometime in the early 1930's and have become naturalized in the southeastern states. It will be necessary to get complete flowering and fruiting specimens of these grasses to taxonomists with herbarium resources to get a final determination but when we determined this to be a weed species not native to the US we discontinued growing it and listed it in our database as Eragrostis chloromelas to distinguish it from a selection made of the true native Eragrostis elliottii we continue to grow that was given the cultivar name Eragrostis elliottii 'Tallahassee Sunset'.
The information about Eragrostis chloromelas that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
Please note that after 46 years in business, San Marcos Growers will be discontinuing nursery operations by the end of 2025 and the property will be developed for affordable housing.
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