1/2-pint plug
Light: Full – partial shade
Soil: Medium - Dry
Height: 3 feet
Description: Side-oats is a warm-season grass that grows actively during the summer months when soil temperatures are warm. It is cited as a food source or larval host for at least five types of skipper butterflies. Its clumping tendency and moderate height make it a good companion for spring-blooming wildflowers like Shooting Stars or Prairie Smoke. Tiny red dangling flowers appear during its summer bloom. Needs to be used in more gardens and restorations!
Attracts: The leafhoppers Flexamia albida, Flexamiapectinata and Laevicephalus minimus are specialist feeders of Side-oats Grama. Many grasshoppers feed on this grass, as do the stinkbug Moromorpha tetra and themealybug Antoninoides nortoni. The larvae of Hesperiadacotae (Dakota Skipper), Hesperia leonardus (Leonard's Skipper), and Hesperia ottoe (Ottoe's Skipper) also feed on it.
