Panicum virgatum Dream Catcher®​ Little Boy Blue®​ (‘Noneulby’)​ PP36,204

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS:  Panicum virgatum Dream Catcher®​ Little Boy Blue®​ is a switch grass cultivar that is known for its extremely compact size and upright habit.  Little Boy has powdery gray-blue foliage and very compact habit.  With a height of only around 2 feet, there is no chance of flopping over.

HABITAT & HARDINESS:  The parent species Panicum virgatum ranges through most of the southern Canadian provinces and the contiguous United States.  The species is indigenous to prairies, savannas, glades, rocky bluffs, stream banks, open woods, sand dunes, marsh borders, roadsides, ditches and fields.

Michigan Plant Breeder, Dave Mackenzie, developed this grass at Hortech, Inc. in Nunica, MI

Panicum virgataum Dream Catcher®​ Little Boy Blue®​ is hardy from USDA Zones 4-9.

PLANT DESCRIPTION:  Panicum virgatum Dream Catcher®​ Little Boy Blue®​ is a sturdy compact switch grass cultivar with multiple seasons of interest.  If you are looking for a native substitute for some of the shorter Pennisteum, try ‘Little Boy Blue’.

CULTURAL & MAINTENANCE NEEDS:  Panicum virgatum Dream Catcher®​ Little Boy Blue®​  prospers in sunny sites with average to moist soil.

Plants tolerate drought, salt and clay, sandy or infertile soils. Stems are sturdy and usually remain upright without staking even in windy coastal sites.

Plants are unpalatable to deer and other herbivores.

The only maintenance needed is to cut or burn this grass to the ground in late winter.

LANDSCAPE USES:    Perennial Borders, Coastal Gardens. Roadsides or Urban Meadows. Plants provide Erosion Control, Winter Interest, Showy Blooms and Attractive Seedheads and are appropriate for Containers, Cottage Gardens, Low Maintenance Plantings, Rain Gardens and Water Wise Landscapes.

COMPANION & UNDERSTUDY PLANTS:   Try pairing Panicum virgatum ‘Little Boy Blue’ with Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’, Callirhoe involucrata, Echinacea purpurea, Rudbeckia fulgida var. fulgida, Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ or Sisyrinchium angusitfolium ‘Lucerne’.

If a substitute is needed, try Bouteloua curtipendula.  It is similar in height and drought resistant.