Fall is in the air....

We usually know that fall is near when the pumpkin spice flavor starts to show up in everything everywhere, but I typically prefer to let Mother Nature show me that the cool, crisp season of fall has arrived. She shows me in the Sweet Gum tress that go from shades of yellow-orange to red-purple and in the Virginia Creeper vine foliage when it changes from a bright green to a brilliant rich, red color. There are truly so many signs that Mother Nature provides us through the local flora and fauna, but if I had to choose one favorite sign of the fall season is near it would be when the Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaries) is in bloom.

This beautiful native ornamental grass, named after amateur botanist Henry Muhlenberg, AKA Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, creates a stunning floral display in late summer to fall. The needle-like grass dawns long plums of purple, pink, or white airy flowers that look ablaze in the sunlight and dance with the wind. Muhly grass can be found in wet prairies, the outer edge of marshes, savannas, and well drained upland pine forests. When on the coast you can find the grass in the inter-dune swales. Muhly grass is also commonly used in landscapes as ground cover to help prevent erosion as well as due to it being generally being pest and disease free and low maintenance. This grass will make a great addition to a rain garden as well.

Outside of landscaping, Muhly grass, also known as “sweetgrass” is also used in basket weaving to make the iconic sweetgrass baskets that have become a symbol of our coastal Southern culture and history.