San Marcos Growers LogoSan Marcos Growers
New User
Wholesale Login
Enter Password
Home Products Purchase Gardens About Us Resources Contact Us
Nursery Closure
Search Utilities
Plant Database
Search Plant Name
Detail Search Avanced Search Go Button
Search by size, origins,
details, cultural needs
Website Search Search Website GO button
Search for any word
Site Map
Retail Locator
Plant Listings

PLANT TYPE
PLANT GEOGRAPHY
PLANT INDEX
ALL PLANT LIST
PLANT IMAGE INDEX
PLANT INTROS
SPECIALTY CROPS
NEW  2024 PLANTS

PRIME LIST
  for SEPTEMBER


Natives at San Marcos Growers
Succulents at San Marcos Growers
 Weather Station

 
Products > Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'
 
Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal' - Blue Switch Grass

Note: This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  
Image of Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Grass
Family: Poaceae (Gramineae) (Grasses)
Origin: Prairie Provinces (North America)
Flower Color: Pink
Bloomtime: Summer
Height: 4-5 feet
Width: 2-3 feet
Exposure: Full Sun
Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: < 0 °F
Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal' (Blue Switch Grass) - A deciduous warm-season narrowly upright clump-forming grass native to the American prairies. It has steely-blue upright foliage to 3-4 ft tall that turns a nice yellow color in fall and attractive airy pink-tinged flowers that rise a foot or more above the foliage in mid-summer. Plant in full sun. Tolerant of most soils and irrigation practices from dry to soggy - shorter when kept dry. Hardy into USDA zone 4. 'Heavy Metal' was a selection made by Kurt Bluemel with chalky-colored foliage - it is more upright than 'Prairie Sky'. It remains attractive as a dormant grass but should be cut back in late winter to early spring so not to detract from the newly emerging foliage. 

This information about Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.

 
  [MORE INFO]