Illustration
Bottlebrush Grass
Elymus hystrix
Also called eastern bottlebrush grass, bottle brush grass, bottle-brush-grass, glumeless wild rye and spiny bottlebrush grass
Bottlebrush Grass blooms from June through August.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Bottlebrush Grass
Plant it in part shade. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 5–9. Expect it to reach about 3 ft tall and 1.5 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 3 years (a house reading).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
No toxicity note is on file for Bottlebrush Grass. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and the trait tags were checked against named botanical sources for this plant, with what the sources could not settle written down; years to mature size rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one, and is marked so; its common name and alternate names have not been checked yet. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Bottlebrush Grass
Plant Bottlebrush Grass in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 7, the middle of its hardy zones 5 to 9, spring means March to May and fall means September or October. Once settled, it blooms from June to August.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 7, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 7 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Bottlebrush Grass get?
3 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult1.5 ftwideSee Bottlebrush Grass in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Bottlebrush Grass
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Space Bottlebrush Grass about 1.5 ft apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.
Add Bottlebrush Grass to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Bottlebrush Grass' height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity were checked against 14 published sources on October 12, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- NC State ExtensionGardener Plant Toolboxheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases, pests and toxicity
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags, soil, diseases and pests
- Prairie Moon Nurseryheight, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags and pests
- The Morton Arboretumheight, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, trait tags and soil
- Plant Addictsheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water and bloom months and color
- Chicago Botanic GardenPlant Finderhardiness zones, water and bloom months and color
- mgnv.orgMaster Gardeners of Northern Virginia (Virginia Cooperative Extension)height, spread, trait tags and toxicity
- RHSRoyal Horticultural Societyheight, spread and bloom months and color
- University of Georgia ExtensionUniversity of Georgia Cooperative Extensionheight, spread and bloom months and color
- Penn State Extensionhardiness zones and bloom months and color
- University of Maryland ExtensionU.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Officeheight and bloom months and color
- understory.nrem.iastate.eduIowa State University (Native Iowa Woodland Understory Restoration)bloom months and color
- University of Illinois Extensionheight
- University of Maryland Extensionheight
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
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