Elymus canadensis

Sizes available: HPP #1

Basics: zones 3-9, 2.5-5' x 2-3', full sun to part sun (maybe part shade), early to late summer bloom, "bristly awns" are at first green maturing to tan, likes a well-drained but moist site, but is drought tolerant once established, rocky and sandy soils are ok, associated with limestone, but will grow in acidic soil.

Common names: Canada Wild Rye, Prairie Wildrye, Nodding Wildrye

Family: Poaceae

Origin/Distribution: This grass is in all the lower 48 states except Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. It also occurs down into northern Mexico and up into Canada from Quebec to British Columbia. It is more common in the northern parts of its range and at higher altitudes.

Habitat: open woodland, savanna, dune, prairie, edges, ditches, fencerows, ravines

More: This is a cool season, perennial bunch grass. It is a symbiotic host to a constellation of endophytic fungi. A beautiful grass in floral arrangements, fresh or dried, where it offers the same aesthetic qualities as it does in the landscape - texture and grace of movement. Fast growing grasses such as this one make excellent nurse crops to hold soil while other slower-growing perennials get established. Its young growth is nutritious, early-season forage, but once the sharp seed heads develop, livestock tend to avoid grazing it. The seeds are enjoyed by granivorous birds and small mammals and have been used by humans as a cereal grain and in flour. Bunch grasses like this provide good cover and habitat for numerous creatures including ground-nesting birds. Leafhoppers, leaf beetles, aphids, and leaf-miner moth caterpillars feed on Elymus canadensis. The seed heads of some grasses can be quite sharp and around eye height, so some gardeners don't plant them where small children and dogs tend to romp.

Grasses are important habitat for native bees who use them for nesting material as well as hibernation and nursery structures. Do not cut your grasses all the way to the ground. If you must, cut back to about knee height and leave the old stems in the clump permanently. The new growth will cover them over in no time and they will eventually rot away. Many bees have a lifecycle longer than one year and need dependable, consistent habitat to complete their journey. This cutting regime is applicable to other perennials with hollow stems, as well: cut back to knee height. It will look as intentional as cutting lower, but offer much richer habitat.

Nursery: seed grown at Honey Petal Plants - seed from Hayefield Seed

Image credits: Matt Lavin from Creative Commons via North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox