arctic bluegrass
Poa arctica · Poaceae
arctic bluegrass (Poa arctica) is a perennial grass or grass-like plant in the Poaceae family. It is native to North America. USDA records it as hardy in zone 1 and warmer, down to about -62°F.
At a glance
| Type | graminoid USDA |
|---|---|
| Lifecycle | perennial USDA |
| Native status | native USDA |
| Mature height | 2 ft USDA |
| Light | full-sun USDA |
| Soil pH | 5–7.8 USDA |
| Flower color | Purple USDA |
| Hardiness zones | 1 and warmer USDA |
| Guild layer | herb-layer Derived |
USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database · Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.
Growing conditions
It needs full sun. Its drought tolerance is rated low. It will not tolerate waterlogged soil — USDA rates its anaerobic tolerance as none. It is recorded on soils from pH 5 to 7.8 — a broad range that spans acidic through mildly alkaline ground. Its cold limit is zone 1.
Size and growth
At maturity it reaches about 2 ft, making it about knee height.
Foliage, flower and season
Summer foliage is green, medium in texture. Its flowers are not conspicuous — a plant for form and foliage. Its active growth period is spring and summer. USDA rates its lifespan as short, so plan on replacing or resowing it rather than treating it as permanent structure.
What the site needs to provide
USDA records it across sites receiving 14 to 118 inches of annual precipitation. The low end of that band is genuinely arid, so it has a wide tolerance for dry country. It needs at least 120 frost-free days to finish its season. It roots to at least 12 inches. Fertility requirement: medium.
Propagating it
Propagate it from seed and sod. Seed needs cold stratification — a period of moist chilling — before it will germinate, so sow in autumn or chill it artificially before a spring sowing. It spreads vegetatively at a moderate rate.
Resilience and wildlife
Its fire tolerance is rated medium. Its growth form is recorded as stoloniferous.
Role in a guild
Herb layer. In a layered planting this is the herbaceous middle — perennials and grasses that fill the space between ground cover and shrubs. The layer is derived by a fixed rule from growth habit and mature height.
Tags
Related plants
Others in Poa
- alpine bluegrass Poa alpina
- annual bluegrass Poa annua
- autumn bluegrass Poa autumnalis
- bulbous bluegrass Poa bulbosa
Similar role and hardiness
- Rocky Mountain pond-lily Nuphar lutea
- tall Jacob's-ladder Polemonium acutiflorum
Where this data comes from
Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol POAR2, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.
- Quoted from USDA PLANTS: active growth period, cold stratification, Drought tolerance, fall conspicuous, fertility requirement, fire tolerance, Flower color, flower conspicuous, foliage color, foliage porosity winter, foliage texture, frost free days min, fruit conspicuous, growth form, Hardiness zones, Lifecycle, lifespan, Light, Mature height, Minimum temperature, Native status, Nitrogen fixation, precipitation max in, precipitation min in, propagation, resprout ability, root depth in, Soil pH, Soil pH (upper), Tolerance of wet soil, Toxicity, Type, vegetative spread rate.
- Derived by a fixed rule from those columns: Guild layer.
Read our full data sources and methodology.
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