Native Floridian Grasses
Muhly Grass (Pink Muhly)
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates temperatures down to 10°F.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Small tan seed heads with pink, feathery flower plumes in fall.
Size: 2-3 ft tall and 3 ft wide.
Water: Water regularly until established, then drought tolerant.
Soil Type: Well-drained sandy, loamy, or rocky soils.
Tips: Excellent ornamental grass that attracts birds and is salt tolerant.
Lopsided Indiangrass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, hardy below freezing.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Golden flower heads.
Size: 2-6 ft height.
Water: Moderate watering until established.
Soil Type: Sandy or loamy soils.
Tips: Great for wildlife cover and bird seed source meaning it will attracts lots of birds.
Fakahatchee Grass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates temperatures to about 20°F.
Light: Sun to partial shade.
Fruit/Seeds: Tall flower spikes with small tan seeds.
Size: 5–6 ft tall and wide.
Water: Prefers moist soil but tolerates drought once established.
Soil Type: Sandy, loamy, or moist soils.
Tips: Great for wildlife habitat and rain gardens.
Sand Cordgrass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates freezing temperatures.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Narrow seed spikes.
Size: 3-6 ft height.
Water: Moderate watering until established; tolerates saltwater conditions.
Soil Type: Sandy coastal soils.
Tips: Excellent for dune stabilization and grows well along ponds and fresh water.
Saltmeadow Cordgrass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerant of freezing temperatures.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Slender seed spikes.
Size: Up to 3 ft tall.
Water: Prefers wet, salty soils.
Soil Type: Coastal marshes and dunes.
Tips: Excellent for shoreline stabilization and is very hardy. But can be planted in a sandy garden too.
Sea Oats
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates temperatures to about 20°F.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Drooping oat-like seed heads.
Size: Up to 8 ft tall.
Water: Water until established, then drought tolerant.
Soil Type: Dry sandy coastal soils.
Tips: Important for stabilizing sand dunes and protected in Florida.
Switchgrass
Temperature: Best growth around 65°F to 90°F, tolerates temperatures below 0°F.
Light: Full sun to partial sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Airy seed heads.
Size: 3-10 ft tall.
Water: Moderate water until established, then drought tolerant.
Soil Type: Adaptable to sandy, loamy, and clay soils.
Tips: Excellent wildlife habitat and erosion control.
Broomsedge Bluestem
Temperature: Best growth around 65°F to 90°F, can handle below freezing temperatures.
Light: Full sun to partial sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Silvery seed heads in fall.
Size: 2-5 ft tall.
Water: Drought tolerant once established.
Soil Type: Dry sandy or rocky soils.
Tips: Perfect for erosion control because of its long root systems.
Splitbeard Bluestem
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates light freezes.
Light: Sun to part shade.
Fruit/Seeds: Silvery split seed heads.
Size: 1-4 ft tall.
Water: Drought tolerant after establishment.
Soil Type: Sandy soils.
Tips: Excellent for native wildflower gardens.
Big Bluestem
Temperature: Best growth around 65°F to 90°F, hardy below freezing.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Turkey-foot-shaped seed heads.
Size: 4-7 ft tall by 3-8 ft wide.
Water: Moderate water until established, then drought tolerant.
Soil Type: Sandy or loamy soils.
Tips: Excellent wildlife habitat and ornamental grass in a sunny garden.
Little Bluestem
Temperature: Best growth around 65°F to 90°F, hardy below freezing.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Silvery fluffy seed heads.
Size: Reaches about 2ft in height.
Water: Drought tolerant once established.
Soil Type: Dry sandy or rocky soils.
Tips: One of Florida’s best native grasses for pollinators, birds, and erosion control, with attractive bronze fall color. It is also a host plant for caterpillars and grass hoppers.
Eastern Gamagrass
Temperature: Best growth around 65°F to 90°F, hardy below freezing.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Fruit/Seeds: Tall seed spikes.
Size: 4-6 ft tall to 2-4 ft wide.
Water: Prefers moist soil but adapts well.
Soil Type: Moist sandy or loamy soils.
Tips: Excellent for erosion control and can be planted in water, like around ponds or in bogs.
Florida Gamagrass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates light freezes.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Fruit/Seeds: Seed spikes.
Size: 4-6 ft height.
Water: Prefers moist conditions.
Soil Type: Moist sandy or loamy soils.
Tips: Excellent wildlife forage. Florida Gamagrass is the dwarf species of Eastern Gamagrass
Toothache Grass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates light frost.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Fruit/Seeds: Narrow seed heads that sometimes curl.
Size: 3-5 ft tall.
Water: Moderate watering until established.
Soil Type: Moist sandy soils.
Tips: Host plant for butterflies. These plants also emit a nice citrusy scent.
Purple Lovegrass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates light frost.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Purple-tinted airy seed heads.
Size: 1-2 ft tall and wide.
Water: Drought tolerant.
Soil Type: Sandy, well drained soils.
Tips: Beautiful ornamental grass for native gardens. Place clumps 12 to 18 ft away from each other so they can form big clumps
Beaked Panicgrass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates light frost.
Light: Partial shade.
Fruit/Seeds: Small branching seed heads.
Size: 2-4 ft tall.
Water: Moderate moisture.
Soil Type: Sandy or moist woodland soils.
Tips: Good wildlife cover. The seeds are curved giving them a bird beak look.
Maidencane
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates light freezes.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Small seed heads.
Size: About 6ft tall.
Water: Prefers wet soils.
Soil Type: Marshes, ponds, and wetlands.
Tips: Excellent for pond edges and water gardens. This grass will take over a garden with its rapid seed production.
Wiregrass
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates temperatures below 20°F.
Light: Full sun to partial shade.
Fruit/Seeds: Thin flowering stalks with seeds.
Size: 1-3 ft in height.
Water: Drought tolerant once established.
Soil Type: Moist to dry sandy soils.
Tips: New leaf growth can be stimulated by cutting off dead or old growth.
Florida Dropseed
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, tolerates temperatures to about 20°F.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Fine seed heads.
Size: 1-3 ft in height.
Water: Drought tolerant once established.
Soil Type: Sandy, well-drained soils.
Tips: Low-maintenance ornamental grass.
Bottlebrush Threeawn
Temperature: Best growth around 70°F to 95°F, hardy below freezing.
Light: Full sun.
Fruit/Seeds: Bottlebrush-like seed heads.
Size: About 3 ft tall.
Water: Low water once established.
Soil Type: Wet sandy soils.
Tips: Best used in wet flat native gardens, though in the wild flowering is only stimulated with fire.