Description
Scientific name: Eragrostis spectabilis
Range: Downstate Michigan, Wisconsin
Light: Full sun, partial
Moisture: Dry, Medium
Soil: Sand, Gravel
Benefits: Deer Resistant
Height: 2′
Blooms: July-September
Zones: 4-10
Color: Green, Purplish pink
Spacing: 1-2′
Root: Fibrous, but will spread slowly with rhizomes
A tough customer, Purple Lovegrass grows where angels fear to tread, along roadsides and in dry, rocky sites. In garden situations, it is most spectacular (like spectabilis, get it?) planted en masse, where it’s florets can form a mauve mist over the foliage. Like most grasses, it is deer resistant, and it provides shelter and other resources for insects and other small creatures.
