Thriving on sunny, dry, low fertility soils, Needlegrass is valued for its soil stabilization and revegetating strengths. Named for its spike-like seeds. It could star in naturalized areas with little foot traffic or in a corner as a native ornamental grass. It is found on very dry, rocky sites in the west.

Sitka brome is a shade-tolerant native brome often found in the Willamette Valley in woodlands with Blue-Wildrye. It has long flowering stems and nodding flower stalks.

Dense, clump forming sedge, 12-30" tall, large, compact flower clusters. Important food source for waterfowl, songbirds, beavers, and deer.

Slender, clump forming sedge 12-16 ' tall, light green leaves and nodding inflorescence.

large, bushy sedge with dark interesting seed heads (easy to find sources), rhizomatous!

Chamisso sedge is natives to western North America and is found in many types of habitats. It can tolerate drier conditions than most of our native sedges. It grows in wet prairies but also on forest edges.

Dense, clump forming sedge, 12-30" tall. It grows in many different hydric conditions making it a good competitor and ideal for disturbed sites.

Bright green plant with pyramidal flower clusters and stout, triangular stems, 15-35" tall. This sedge is common in the wetter portions of prairies.

This one of our few upland prairie sedges. It forms large clumps and has delicate nodding flower heads.

This sedge is commonly found in wet prairies and ditches. It is 12-30" tall, has yellowish-green foliage, is densely bunched, and has compact flower heads. It adds great texture to a garden when planted along a drainage.

Low-growing bunch grass with only a few nodding flower spikes, 1-1.5 ft in flower. A versatile grass found in both wet and dry prairies.

Key Willamette Valley wetland grass. Inflorescence tall and delicate, resembles hair blowing in the wind. 4-5 ft in flower.

This tall (up to 5 feet in flower) perennial grass is native to many western states and does well in a variety of habitats. The flowers are in spikes with long awns and turn golden brown in our mid-summer prairies looking impressive as they wave in the breeze. This is not a dominant grass of our Willamette Valley prairies but an important component to add diversity to a site

Wonderfully tall bunch grass with delicate inflorescence. Undersides of leaves are blue-green, 3-5 ft in flower. Shade tolerant.

Because this is the dominant native bunchgrass in the upland prairies west of the Cascades from southern British Columbia to central California it is an easy choice for mass plantings. With its fine thread-like leaves of steely blue-gray that form tussocks 10 in. height, it is very beautiful too, even planted individually in the landscape. No concern over ecological invasiveness. Drought and deer resistant.

Rhizomatous rush, 8-15" tall, flat, iris shape leaves, compact, chocolate-brown inflorescence. Prefers wetter sites.

This clump forming rush grows between 12 and 24 inches tall in flower depending on the amount of moisture. It is native to most of the United States and grows in mesic to wet prairies conditions.

Beautiful, soft, fine leaved bunch grass, spike of soft tan flowers, low growing, 3 ft in flower.

This small prairie rush in found on both wet and dry sites. It has flat, grass-like leaves and soft hairs at the collar and along the leaf margins.

Medium-height bunch grass with thin, blue-green leaves, flowers in soft, tufted spikes, 3-4 ft in flower. Forms of pine-bluegrass can be found on dry, rocky bluffs as well as wet prairies.