Sorghastrum nutans 

Yellow Indiangrass

• Average to Very Dry Soils
• Full Sun to Very Light Shade
• 4’ tall, can reach 6’ with tall neighbours and ideal conditions, 2’ to 3’ spacing 
• Summer Blooms, Fall Seed Heads
• Ontario Native, Thrives in Meadow and Dry Meadow Ecosystems

While I’m never comfortable with writing ‘Indian’ as a name for a plant that comes from Turtle Island (as opposed to India) this seems to be the accepted common name for this lovely grass.

Clump forming, with a mature spread of up to 3’, these are worth considering as a landscape alternative to introduced species such as Calamagrostis and Miscanthus. In tallgrass prairies, these grow alongside Big Bluestem and Switchgrasses.

Best in full sun with average soil conditions. I would interplant these with asters and goldenrods, as well as earlier blooming meadow species such as Liatris, Penstemon and Coreopsis. If you plan a planting with shorter spring and summer and taller late summer and fall blooming species, you can end up with a meadow that progresses nicely through each growing year.

Photos from my garden and Matt Lavin, Matt Lavin and Jennifer Anderson via Wikipedia Commons