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Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-1120
Bushy Bluestem
Andropogon glomeratus
Bushy Bluestem is a clump-forming perennial grass that turns from blue-green in summer to coppery orange in winter, topped from late summer through fall by fluffy, silvery-pink seed heads resembling tufts of cotton candy. It needs full sun and consistently moist to wet ground, tolerating poor drainage and occasional flooding, and grows readily in sandy, loamy or clay soil. It reseeds heavily on its own and provides winter cover and seed for songbirds and small mammals.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 7–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 5–6.3
- Plant type
- Grass
- Mature height
- 3–5 ft
- Mature spread
- 24–36 in
- Plant spacing
- 18 in
- Root type
- Not yet recorded
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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