Hordeum jubatum

Sizes available: HPP #1, 3 plants per pot

Basics: zones 3-10, 12-24" x 12", full sun, early summer bloom is a jaunty golden-green tuft sometimes with pink overtones, likes well-drained soils medium to dry, but can grow with more consistent moisture, not picky as to soil type.

Common names: Fox-tail Barley, Squirreltail Grass

Family: Poaceae

Origin/Distribution: Occurs in 45 of the lower 48 states and is native to Maine.

Habitat: roadside, coastal beach, salt marsh edge, gravelly places, waste places, open ground

More: This is a short-lived perennial, cool season grass that will probably self-sow. Its tufted blooms on sturdy stems are an excellent bouquet addition. It is very pretty in the front of a sunny border waving in the wind. Salt tolerant and adaptable, it can grow in numerous conditions. Is a larval host and grasshoppers also enjoy the leaves. I think this might be good combined with Purple Love Grass in a matrix planting. The Hordeum jubatum blooms earlier and the Eragrostis spectabilis blooms later and they both like similar conditions. Add some Echinacea pallida, Rudbeckia triloba, and Solidago nemoralis to complete the scene. Under plant with (non-native) spring-blooming bulbs such as species tulips and you have a masterpiece.

Nursery: grown from seed by Honey Petal Plants - seed from Hayefield Seeds

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons