Spring has finally sprung! The days are getting longer and warmer and that kicks all our native plant friends into gear. It is so very exciting to see all the new growth emerging and many plants are already flowering. Among them is blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium angustifolium.
While the leaves may be long and linear like our grasses, don’t let the name fool you. This little beauty is not a grass at all. It is actually in the iris family, Iridaceae. Blue-eyed grass is common and widespread, growing in woodlands, forests, meadows, and sandhill swales as far north as Vermont down the coast into the Florida panhandle and west to Wisconsin and Texas.
In the garden, blue-eyed grass is best used en masse or as a border plant. This clumping perennial grows about one foot tall and spreads to about three feet wide. Clumps can be divided annually to enjoy even more of the tiny blue flowers that show up in late March through April. While this plant can tolerate full sun it prefers at least a little bit of shade and will grow in a variety of well drained soil types.
Blue-eyed grass is also great for wildlife. The flowers provide nectar and pollen for a variety of insects including butterflies, bumblebees, other types of bees, and even flies and the seeds are a food source for birds.
