Indian steel grass, also known as Indiangrass, is a Florida native tall prairie grass with distinctive steel-blue foliage, feathery flower spikes and attractive orange-yellow colored plumes in the Spring that persist through Fall. It looks beautiful in mixed borders or in a garden meadow. It is a beautiful ornamental choice for a soil stabilizer and is drought tolerant once established. It prefers full sun and well-drained soils.
How to care for Indian Steel Grass
Light. Full sun. It does not do well in shade.
Water. Water often until it is established. After that it handles long dry spells and also somewhat moist soil, but not flooding.
Soil and feeding. It prefers sandy, well-drained, acidic to neutral soil and does well in poor, infertile soil. Rich, moist soil makes the clumps open up and flop.
Size. Grows to about 3 to 5 ft when in bloom. The leafy clump stays about 2 ft tall the rest of the year.
Pruning. Cut it back to the ground in late winter or early spring, just before new growth appears.
Good to know. A Florida native of flatwoods and sandhills. It goes dormant in winter. Birds eat the seeds, and it is a host plant for the pepper and salt skipper butterfly. It has little tolerance for salt spray.
Sources: Florida Native Plant Society Plant Database: Sorghastrum nutans · NC State Extension Plant Toolbox: Sorghastrum nutans
