A stately warm-season prairie grass with blue-green summer foliage and showy golden-bronze feathery seed heads that rise above the leaves in late summer.

Native range: Throughout most of North America from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast, eastern seaboard to Montana, Wyoming and Utah

Size: 3-5 feet tall (up to 7 feet in ideal conditions), 1-2 feet wide, space 2-3 feet apart

Growing conditions: Full sun, average to dry well-drained soils. Tolerates heavy clay, poor soils, and drought. Avoid rich, moist soils

Bloom period: Late summer through early fall (August-October), with seed heads persisting through winter

Wildlife value: Seeds eaten by songbirds and small mammals; provides year-round cover; larval host for pepper-and-salt skipper butterfly

Garden benefits: Excellent cut flower, deer resistant, drought tolerant, self-seeds readily, provides erosion control, striking winter interest