Prairie Drop Seed was one of the major components of the Midwestern prairie, and it’s now a popular landscape plant—with good reason.  It is perhaps the most ornamental of the native prairie grasses and grows in a clumping shape with deep green narrow leaves that arch downward. In July, Prairie Drop Seed sends up numerous stalks with delicate open panicles shooting up over the clump.  In fall, foliage turns a beautiful coppery orange color, which later fades to cream.

Prairie Drop Seed makes a lush, gorgeous lawn alternative with its mounded habit.  It emits an unmistakable aroma some say resembles a cross between cilantro and fresh roasted nuts.  Easy, beautiful, and hardy to our zone, it’s flowing look is a great choice for mixed plantings, meadow or prairie plantings, and contemporary landscapes.

Plants grow 2-3 feet tall and wide from a fibrous root mass. This native grass resists flattening from the snow so this plant can provide winter interest if it’s not cut back until spring.