Eragrostis spectabilis

The Eragrostis spectabilis, which could be translated as love grass, exceptional or remarkable, is a modest grass with a slightly messy habit, with rough foliage like wild grass, which achieves a miracle of metamorphosis at the end of summer. Its humble vegetation disappears in a stunning haze of purplish-pink spikelets that seem slightly exaggerated. It is a hardy American species that is easy to grow and perfectly adapted to dry, poor, sandy soils. Seductive and wild, it easily self-seeds in the most unexpected places in the garden. A plant that adds a lot of charm to the late season. It suits all styles of gardens, whether romantic, natural, dry or contemporary. Just place it in the sun, in well-drained soil.

The Eragrostis spectabilis is a perennial plant of the Poaceae family, native to North America, from Maine to South Dakota, south to Florida, passing through Texas, Arizona and Mexico. It is most commonly found on sandy, rocky soil or along roadsides. The plant forms a slightly disorganized clump, 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20in) tall for the foliage and about 70 cm (28in) wide. Its deciduous leaves are bright green, flat, pointed at the ends, 25 cm (10in) long and a few millimetres wide. Stiff and remaining in place until late winter, they turn bronze-purple around October, sometimes even September. From the centre of the clump, open, branched and airy flower heads emerge in August, bearing spikelets in shades of violet to purple. The entire flowering doubles the volume of the plant, reaching easily 70 cm (28in) in height. The spikes, mature in October, take on a brown colour, the colour of the seeds that will be dispersed by the wind all over the garden.

The Eragrostis spectabilis is a truly undemanding grass whose credible diffuse spikes and tenacious foliage make both highly decorative and dynamic at, almost maintenance-free, the end of summer; it can be used to adorn the crevices between rocks in a rockery, along a path or in raised beds, and to stabilize the soil of a slope or embankment. Take advantage of its late flowering to display it near a walkway, paired with the blooms of tall sedums (Sedum Matrona, Sedum Jose Aubergine), the stars of asters (Aster laevis Calliope, Aster turbinellus, Aster cordifolius), or the bright magenta flowers of shrubby salvias. It pairs well with Caryopteris and Stipa arundinacea, autumn daisies, Japanese anemones, and perennial chrysanthemums. Its inflorescences are beautiful in dry or fresh bouquets.