Dorothy GilmanIn this summer of extremes—drench, drought, horrible heat—many plants in my garden have struggled. But one of them, purple love grass, Eragrostis spectabilis, has taken it all in beautiful stride.
Purple love grass is an easy to grow, low-maintenance, perennial bunchgrass. It is native to much of the United States, from Maine to South Dakota and on down to Texas, Florida, Arizona and New Mexico. It is a warm season grass which simply means it grows best when the soil temperature warms—it is not an early riser but it is perfectly hardy here in zone six.
Purple love grass is a well-mannered clumping grass; like most grasses it spreads by rhizomes but it is not thuggish and it is not a vigorous self-sower. The grass blades reach about 10 inches in height and the flowers are held above the foliage, bringing it to about two feet.
The flowers are excellent for dried flower arrangements. It does quite well in poor, sandy, or rocky soil and is drought tolerant. It is absolutely not suitable for soggy areas and full sun exposure really is necessary for a good show of flowers. If those two requirements are met then at the height of summer—even in the middle of a long hot dry spell—you will have an absolutely lovely display, a reddish-purple haze floating over thick tufts of 3⁄8 inch grass blades.
This hovering fog of color is the flower panicles, a gauzy cloud seemingly snagged on the tips of the foliage. Come autumn, the green blades turn russet and bronze and by October the seed heads are brown. As the season progresses the tall seed stalks snap and the wispy flower heads break free and roll about the garden like tiny tumbleweeds, distributing seeds.
The eye-catching misty purple blooms are stunning in groups or in a mass planting, for example edging a walkway or driveway. Since it is tolerant of poor conditions, purple love grass could be used to good effect in a “hell strip”, that bit of ground between sidewalk and street. Because it is not a boisterous spreader you can be comfortable planting purple love grass in a mixed border where it makes a useful bridge between the exuberant blooms of June and the onset of late summer and autumn flowering plants, asters and goldenrods and such. In late winter or early spring you may cut back the foliage, if you are looking for something to do in the garden.
Myself, I leave it be. The previous years’ foliage protects the crown of the plant over the winter and the spent foliage is fairly unobtrusive and is quickly hidden when spring shoots emerge. Leaving the old foliage in place helps me to remember where I planted it when I am cleaning up the garden in spring and discourages any inadvertent weeding.
The botanical name says it all. The genus name eragrostis, is from the Greek words for love, eros, and grass, agrostis; the species, spectabilis, means spectacular or showy. Just so.
Dorothy gardens in Belmont where she lives with her husband, Steve, and their two dogs, Rosie and Jasper. She has six grandchildren — all perfect by definition — and has enjoyed introducing them to gardening. She has an abiding interest in nature and is always amazed by the wonders to be found in her own backyard.