Switchgrass 'Northwind'
Panicum virgatum 'Northwind' · Poaceae Popular
The most upright switchgrass: a narrow, rigid column of olive-blue leaves that never flops, turning gold in autumn and standing through winter.
- Size
- 5½ ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early August to early October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around switchgrass 'Northwind'
The planner designed this bed around switchgrass 'Northwind' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) contemporary bed in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why switchgrass 'Northwind' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Switchgrass 'Northwind' × 4, tan
- 2 Bloody cranesbill × 3, pink
- 3 Creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' × 5, blue
- 4 Swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' × 3, white
- 5 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 6 Joe-Pye weed 'Baby Joe' × 3, pink
- 7 Grecian windflower × 10, blue
Why this plant
- The only airy sprays. The others are open bowls, flat plates, dense clusters and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only tan. Tan sits between stronger colours and calms them.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does globe arborvitae 'Danica'.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5½ ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to joe-Pye weed 'Baby Joe' (2½ ft) and swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 4 plants in 2 places. An accent is a punctuation mark: the repeat along the bed gives it rhythm.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From early August to early October.
- Closes the season. For its last three weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- Stands through winter. Left uncut, it holds its shape until March, when the perennials have gone.
Planned as a contemporary bed: 27 of the 27 plants that stand in groups (100%) are set out in a pattern with their neighbours: a straight row, a triangle, or five like the five on a dice. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 57 to 43, left to right. Low plants run along 99% of the front edge: bloody cranesbill and creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue'.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 4 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where switchgrass 'Northwind' goes in a border
At 5½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
It gives the vertical line of 'Karl Foerster' feather reed grass in a taller plant that tolerates heat and drought. A row of them makes a seasonal hedge.
- A strong vertical accent
- Screening in narrow spaces
- Winter structure
What to plant with switchgrass 'Northwind'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Joe Pye weed 'Gateway': in flower together for six weeks, from early August; bold leaves against its fine ones.
- New England aster: in flower together for five weeks, from early September.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for five weeks, from early August; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
Choosing between it and a look-alike? Switchgrass 'Northwind' vs Feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster' and Maiden grass 'Gracillimus' vs Switchgrass 'Northwind'.
Questions about switchgrass 'Northwind'
Does switchgrass 'Northwind' need sun or shade?
Switchgrass 'Northwind' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does switchgrass 'Northwind' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does switchgrass 'Northwind' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early August to early October. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid August to early October |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early August to early October |
| Zone 6 | Early August to early October |
| Zone 7 | Early August to early October |
| Zone 8 | Early August to early October |
| Zone 9 | Late July to early October |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should switchgrass 'Northwind' be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5½ ft (170 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many switchgrass 'Northwind' plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used four in two groups.
Is switchgrass 'Northwind' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat switchgrass 'Northwind'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after switchgrass 'Northwind'?
Switchgrass 'Northwind' is over by early October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Tatarian aster 'Jindai': from early October to early November, 4 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Swamp sunflower: from late September to late October, 6½ ft tall.
- Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink': from late September to early November, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does switchgrass 'Northwind' look like in winter?
Switchgrass 'Northwind' turns the colour of straw and, left uncut, stands through the winter, with seed for the birds. Cut it down in late winter, before the new shoots come up.
Is switchgrass 'Northwind' good for bees and butterflies?
Switchgrass 'Northwind' is visited by songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of common wood-nymph feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States and Canada (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Panicum
- Bitter switchgrass 'Dewey Blue' Panicum amarum 'Dewey Blue'
- Switchgrass 'Cheyenne Sky' Panicum virgatum 'Cheyenne Sky'
- Switchgrass 'Cloud Nine' Panicum virgatum 'Cloud Nine'
- Switchgrass 'Heavy Metal' Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'
- Switchgrass 'Prairie Sky' Panicum virgatum 'Prairie Sky'
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah' Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Salt-tolerant plants for roadsides and coasts
- Plants that grow near black walnut
- Plants for slopes and banks
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Tall perennials and grasses for the back of a border
- Host plants for the common wood-nymph
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Grass
- Size
- 5½ ft (170 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early August to early October; airy sprays; tan
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; blue-green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Poaceae
- Comes from
- North America
- Attracts
- Songbirds
- Host plant for
- Common wood-nymph
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, salt, wet soil, black walnut, pollution, erosion
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.