Vals_Garden said: I do have a mature plant but this year I bought seed from Jelitto as I'd love more, so keen to know how your seed starting went back in 2016. Assuming at least some success have the seedlings gone on to make nice clumps?
Sorry, only noticed the post just now. Yes, I planted it in a tree pot with compost mixed with sand from the hardware store and kept it in partial shade, and had quite a bit of germination. I planted a few out and left the rest of it in the pot. The plants in the pot have survived and gotten very bushy, though sometimes when I don't water enough the leaves wilt. They dried up last fall and I thought they were dead, but they came back this spring. I planted a few out and have a clump in a little triangle patch between two concrete walks with other grassy plants (Pennsylvania sedge and blue grama), and on the dry edge of a dry rain garden. One that I put on a hill hasn't survived. Maybe it was overrun and shaded by sideoats grama. The ones in the ground are much smaller than the ones in the pot, probably because I don't water them.
This year I'm trying to grow some more and haven't had a lot of success. I put the first part of the seed packet with a bunch of other seeds that have germinated faster (
Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea) and
White Prairie Clover (Dalea candida),
Dwarf Indigobush (Amorpha nana),
Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium),
Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium)), and I think the prairie dropseed needs to be kept in a cooler and shadier location until a significant amount of it has germinated, at least when it's planted in late spring, so I'm going to plant the rest that way.
Certainly a cute tough little grass and very nice to brush against.
