Pink Muhly Grass
Muhlenbergia capillaris
A native grass that stops traffic in fall with airy clouds of pink flowers over fine, wiry leaves, spectacular massed or along a border. It shrugs off heat, humidity, drought, poor soil and salt, and deer leave it alone. Give it full sun and soil that drains well.
- Mature size
- 2.5 × 2.5 ft
- 0.8 × 0.8 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–9b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Dry to moist
- Blooms
- Sep–Nov
Pink Muhly Grass at its mature size
A mature Pink Muhly Grass grows to about 2.5 ft tall and 2.5 ft wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension.
Through the year
What Pink Muhly Grass looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Dec–Feb
Whole tuft pale tan.
Below ground · Mar–Apr
Cut back; new shoots barely out of the ground.
In leaf · May–Aug
Fine wiry tuft of hair-like green leaves, no flowers.
In flower · Sep–Oct
Airy cloud of pink-purple flowers above the tuft.
Fall · Nov
The cloud faded to pale buff-tan.
Photos
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Growing Pink Muhly Grass
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Plains and Mountain West, the desert Southwest, and California.
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Good for
- Drought tolerant and deer resistant
- Leaves
- Dies back in winter
- Native to
- Central and Eastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Pink Muhly Grass, that’s about 2.5 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Pink Muhly Grass in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other muhly grasses
Pink Muhly Grass
Lindheimer Muhly
Deer GrassAll drawn to the same scale.