One of the hottest new native grasses on the market! Blackhawks Big Bluestem starts off in spring as a deep green clump of upright to arching blades that may be tipped with red to purple. It is in late summer when the real show begins with the upright and arching foliage and flowering stems of August deepen to red to red-purple and further deepening and intensifying as the cooler fall weather arrives becoming nearly all black as its sturdy and showy flowering stems begin to mature. Blackhawks Big Bluestem is a slightly more compact plant reaching about 4-5' high when in flower. The species is native throughout much of the eastern 2/3's of the US and is a clumping to slowly spreading rhizomatous grass whose seeds are utilized by a number of seed eating birds. Provide a full to mostly sunny site with an average to well-drained, acidic soil for the deepest foliage colors and optimum vigor. Plants are in their best form when grown in a low fertility soil. Overly fertile soils can cause them to topple at maturity.Caterpillars: Arogos Skipper and Delaware Skipper. Images courtesy of Brent Horvath, Intrinsic Perennials, all rights reserved. Item# 12169

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