In the Garden: Blackhawks big bluestem adds bold color, interest to landscape
No matter your garden style you are likely to find a place for this year’s Perennial Plant of the Year, Blackhawks big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii ‘Blackhawks’). You’ll enjoy the beauty it adds to your gardens and low maintenance it requires to thrive.
This cultivar of our native big bluestem provides vertical interest, motion and bold color to the landscape. Its leaves start out dark green and develop reddish-purple tips throughout the growing season. Flowers appear in August and by September the leaves and stems of the plant turn a deep purple hue.
Hardy in zones 3 to 9, it prefers full sun and adapts to a wide range of soil but may flop in fertile, moist conditions. Once established, it is drought tolerant. Make sure it receives needed moisture and proper care for the first two years while developing its robust, more drought-tolerant root system.
In addition to drought tolerance, Blackhawks big bluestem has no major pests or disease problems. Just cut it back to the ground in late winter before new growth begins. Its overall excellent performance made it one of the top-rated ornamental grasses in the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Evaluation Study of Hardy Ornamental Grasses.
Big bluestem was the dominant grass of the prairies and largely responsible for the formation of prairie sod. This drought-tolerant grass is a host plant for many skippers and provides shelter and food for songbirds. It grows 5 to 8 feet tall and reseeds readily, making it hard for many home gardeners to include in their landscape.
It is smaller in size than the big bluestem species, just 5 feet tall and 24 inches wide, making it more suitable for home landscapes. Use it as a screen, backdrop in garden beds or as part of mixed borders. It combines nicely with other perennials, like Zagreb threadleaf coreopsis, calamint, liatris, Rudbeckia, sedum, asters and more.
Blackhawks big bluestem, like other Perennial Plants of the Year, was selected for its low maintenance, pest and disease resistance and ability to thrive in a wide range of climates. It joins past winners like little bluestem, butterfly weed, Millenium allium, American Goldrush Rudbeckia and Amsonia hubrichtii. These winners are selected by Perennial Plant Association members, which include hundreds of horticulture experts like landscapers, designers, professors, plant breeders, growers, retailers and public garden curators. You can find out more about this nonprofit program and past Perennial Plants of the Year at perennialplantoftheyear.com.
Look for opportunities to include this year’s Perennial Plant of the Year in your gardens. You’ll enjoy its beauty and the benefits it provides whether your gardens are informal, naturalistic or a cottage-style.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including the recently released Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine, and her website is MelindaMyers.com, which features gardening videos, free webinars, monthly gardening tips, and more.
