Garden Goods Direct | Little Zebra Grass

Little Zebra Grass is easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Tolerant of a wide range of soils from well-drained sandy soils to the heavy clays present in much of the St. Louis area. Prefers moist soils. Best in full sun. Less vigorous with decreased flowering and a tendency to flop in too much shade. Tolerant of summer heat and humidity. Clumps slowly expand in circumference by short rhizomes but retain a tight clump shape. Foliage should be left standing throughout the winter for visual interest and to provide protection for the crowns. Cut foliage to the ground in late winter just before new shoots appear. Zebra grass is a clump-forming grass noted for its horizontally banded foliage. It typically grows in a substantial clump to 4 to 6 feet tall, but sends up flower stalks to 2 feet above the foliage, thus bringing the total height of the grass to 6 to 8 feet tall when in flower. ‘Little Zebra’, sometimes commonly called dwarf zebra grass, is a compact cultivar that typically grows in a clump to 3to 4 feet tall and to 2 to 3 feet wide. Little Zebra is noted for its compact size, upright form, horizontally-banded foliage, and wine-purple flower plumes. Leaf-blades feature, at irregular intervals, distinctive horizontal yellow bands (to 1 inch in height) that retain good coloration throughout the growing season. Flowers appear in corymbose panicles of 10-13 racemes (each to 6 inches long) above the foliage in late summer. Tiny flowers emerge gray-purple with the plumes having an overall wine-purple coloration. As seeds begin to form, the flower/seed plumes fade to creamy tan, often providing some winter interest. Foliage fades to tan after frost.