Add Color with Purple Love Grass

Looking to add color to your landscape? Eragrostis spectabilis (Purple Love Grass) is a real beauty, with a delightful array of seasonal color and texture. During the spring, it displays narrow, cheerful green foliage. In late summer the foliage is topped with eye-catching, purplish-pink panicles. The show continues into early fall, when the blooms paint a stunning display that’s especially spectacular from a distance.

Eragrostis spectabilis can be found in sandy sites, open woods, and prairies from Maine to the Midwest, and from Florida to Arizona. It thrives in sandy soils and is drought tolerant. Though it prefers full sun, this ornamental grass will tolerate partial shade. It is an excellent choice for sandy or gravelly soils where other plants find it hard to survive.

It keeps a rounded shape and is a well-behaved spreader. Once established this plant is a tough cookie and needs little care. Eragrostis spectabilis remains green in milder climates and is attractive during the winter months. It’s best to wait and it cut back in early spring before new growth begins.

Purple Love Grass makes a beautiful groundcover and is dramatic in a mass planting. As a tough, low-maintenance grass, it works well in meadows, borders, and on highway embankments—just to name a few! World-renowned designer Piet Oudolf used Eragrostis spectabilis on New York City’s Highline and in Chicago’s Lurie Garden.

Like many other native grasses, Eragrostis spectabilis supports wildlife. It is a host for butterflies, and birds and other small animals forage on the seeds and use the plants for cover and nesting material.

Purple Love Grass is an easy-growing, beautiful addition to any landscape. To find out more, go to our plant profile or email our sales team.

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