Well, thanks for all the nice comments and new info. Sherry, so pleased to hear some came up! To combine a few answers: The patch is alongside my "driveway", I never planted a single seed or rootstock...Mother Nature did all the work, after I burned the brush out. I do alternately cut or burn it once a year..in late winter/early spring. I do this in several other areas as well, resulting in wide variations of flowers/grass/brush due to slope, moisture levels, soil type etc., but all patches lure butterflies and various pollinators. Due to limited success with purchased/planted stuff, this has become my "minimal effort" volunteer B-fly gardening technique... ; -) I adopted this method after Katrina and a minimal tornado opened up large gaps in the tree canopy...otherwise known as "making lemonade," it works for me in large part because I can burn "out there" Going offshore for two weeks...till next time.

The ones I planted this year are blooming now. The ones I planted 2 years ago are not even close to blooming. I think the ones I planted 2 years ago were the Kobold. The ones I planted this year is the taller gayfeather. Maybe that's the difference?

There are several sites online that sell Little Bluestem seed by the pound. The commercially available seeds are: Aldous (Kansas) Cimmaron (Kansas, Oklahoma) Blaze (Nebraska) Camper (Kansas, Nebraska) I ordered some grass seed from Pase once. You get a very small amount of seed, I mean really small, like 25 seeds or less depending on the variety. The price is low but you really get what you pay for in this case. The B.S. seed sold from Plants of the SW is one that I can talk about since I planted it one year. The plants are very nice and light blue, classic bluestem with a good upright habit. The rule on starting grasses is: The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap. Bluestem seed germinates very easily but they really need warm weather. I'm trying some indoors this winter and the plants frankly look pretty dismal & haven't grown much at all in my sunny room with the south exposure. It gets a bit cold at night but I'm talking only 60 degrees. Its all but a failed experiment, I usually do much better in there with other seeds. I looked up King Ranch Bluestem. I think I've seen that growing on roadsides in waste areas or abandoned farms. The best way to tell if its bluestem at the seedling stage is that the leaves are VERY flat at the base and resemble Iris foliage, they always remind me of tiny iris. wiscons--agastache always dies on me in summer. It looks fine then up and dies. A woman on the Texas forum said the same thing happens to her every time. Maybe its the humidity? I don't know but last year was definitely my very last try since it was the supposedly 'easier' to grow 'more tolerant' cana type.

I'm in San Diego. Some are suffering but others look great so far. Looks like it depends more on the spot. Seedman sells seeds for the white, which haven't germinated for me. You can also find bulbs of mixed colors. [Edit: looks like there are plenty of places selling bulbs online now.] I got a package of those and planted them in different locations. I'm getting rid of most of the purple's because I really prefer the white.