Bluestem Joint Fir
Ephedra equisetina
Size: #5
4-6 feet high x 3-8 feet wide
Mounding shape
Zone 4b
Full Sun to Part Shade
Out of stock
Plant Select® 2004. Native to Russia, this slow growing compact shrub deals with harsh weather by being leafless and gets by with just finely textured blue-green stems. Small frothy yellow flowers are followed by bright red berries in mid-summer on female plants. This densely branched conifer relative exhibits great winter interest and a very wild look year-round. Makes a great accent on a high point or exposed site and unlike yucca, another accent plant for tough sites, this plant is not “pokey”. It is very child friendly! Tolerates most soils and does well in hot dry areas.
Throughout this site, the following are used as guidelines for watering established plants:
These truly xeric plants can live with our 12 inches of natural annual precipitation and only need a winter watering during a multi-year drought, but they will thrive with a monthly watering. Overwatering will kill some of these. These plants are adapted to intermittent deep
watering with soil drying to a depth of a few inches between waterings. Watering frequency may be every couple of weeks during the active growing season and maybe only one winter watering for optimal care. These plants need regular watering somewhat like a bluegrass lawn so that
they never dry to depth in the root system during the active growing season, and need occasional winter watering to prevent root dessication and resultant plant
death. About sizes of our plants:
Sizes indicated with a # are roughly the equivalent in gallonage; so a #2 is about a 2 gallon pot size; b&b stands for balled and burlapped.