Most of the plants I bought this spring for my new garden were perennials I had previously grown. But I also picked up a pot of Heavy Metal switchgrass on the advice of a salesperson at American Plants. I just want to share how pretty its bloom is and how upright it looks even in the current high heat.
Click on any thumbnail in the gallery to scroll through larger images.
Blue-green Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ is a cultivar of a grass native to all but the most western American states. It’s a warm-season grass, but mine looked good even in early spring. Now, with a veil-like inflorescence edged in purple, it’s really lovely. I run my hand over it every time I walk out to the back gate. I will try to plant two or three more in the fall.
According to nursery websites, it likes full to partial sun and moist conditions. Mine has looked great this year in full sun with dryish soil at times. It stays very upright, and it’s hardy to zone 4. Space it 28″ to 40″ apart, according to your design (Bluestem Nursery has some good advice on spacing grasses and a comparison chart on its website). It can be divided in early spring.
enclos*ure 
Cindy,
Here’s an art blog that you might find interesting, http://poulwebb.blogspot.com/. I ran across it yesterday.
I was looking at grasses on Friday at a nursery, but nothing caught my eye. Oh well.
Thanks!
I must say I find grasses a little hard to buy. In the spring, (especially for warm-season grasses), they don’t look like much in the pot. And this time of year, things look a little tired. When I shop or do research online, there seems to be a tendency to show photos of the inflorescence only and not the whole plant shape. I was worried about the Heavy Metal — that it might, in fact, be too hard (metallic) and “modern” looking — but it’s been great in my very small, but naturalistic garden.