Setaria italica Lowlander | Italian Millet | Seeds
Setaria italica Lowlander is an attractive annual ornamental millet grown especially for its sturdy purple-grey to bronze flower heads and excellent performance as a cut flower. Its soft, slightly pendulous plumes add rich texture and movement to bouquets and are equally useful fresh or dried.
Lowlander reaches approximately 90 cm in height, making it considerably more compact than the taller Hylander while still producing strong, useful stems for cutting. The distinctive 8–15 cm (3–6") flower heads develop warm bronze tones with a muted purple-grey character, making this variety especially valuable for late-summer and autumn floral work.
With approximately 60–70 days to maturity, Lowlander is a relatively fast-growing annual grass suitable for cut flower gardens, dried arrangements, ornamental borders and naturalistic landscape planting.
Plant Information
Botanical name: Setaria italica
Variety: Lowlander
Common name: Italian Millet
Family: Poaceae
Plant type: Annual ornamental grass
Crop type: Cut flower
Botanical category: Annual
Life cycle: Annual
Hybrid: No – open pollinated
Flower head colour: Bronze to purple-grey
Plant height: approx. 90 cm
Flower head length: approx. 8–15 cm (3–6")
Days to maturity: approx. 60–70 days
Flowering / harvest: June–October
Position: Full sun
Use: Cut flower, cut foliage, dried flower, ornamental grass and landscaping
Days to germinate: up to 7 days
Germination temperature: approx. 20°C
Germination conditions: Light
Seeds per gram: approx. 400
1000 seed weight: approx. 2.5 g
Distinctive Purple-Grey to Bronze Plumes
Lowlander is particularly valued for its sturdy, textural flower heads in unusual purple-grey and bronze tones.
The soft plumes grow approximately 8–15 cm long and develop a slightly pendulous habit as they mature. Their substantial texture creates a striking contrast with softer flowers and airy fillers.
The muted colouring makes Lowlander especially versatile for floristry. It combines beautifully with burgundy, apricot, rust, terracotta, chocolate, dusty pink, cream, green and deep purple flowers.
Excellent Cut-Flower Grass
Lowlander was selected for cut flower production and is an easy ornamental grass to incorporate into seasonal flower gardens.
At approximately 90 cm tall, it provides useful stem length for bouquets without reaching the 150 cm height of Hylander. This more compact habit can make Lowlander particularly convenient for mixed cut-flower beds and smaller growing spaces.
The sturdy stems and distinctive plumes provide both structure and texture in mixed bouquets.
Fast-Growing Annual
Setaria italica Lowlander is an annual grass with a relatively quick production cycle.
Under suitable growing conditions, allow approximately 60–70 days to maturity.
The supplier indicates a flowering and harvest period from June through October, depending on sowing time, climate and growing conditions.
This relatively fast development makes Lowlander useful for succession sowings where repeated harvests of ornamental grass stems are desired through summer and early autumn.
Sowing
Lowlander is a warm-season grass that grows quickly once temperatures are suitable.
Sow the seeds into a fine, evenly moist seed-starting substrate.
Germination temperature: approx. 20°C
Germination time: up to 7 days
Germination conditions: Light
The specified germination method is Top of Paper, 20°C, Light, indicating that light should be available during germination.
Avoid covering the seeds deeply. Keep the growing medium evenly moist during germination without allowing it to become waterlogged.
After emergence, provide plenty of light and good air circulation.
Growing Conditions
Lowlander performs best in full sun.
Choose a well-drained growing site and provide consistent moisture while the young plants are becoming established.
Plants develop quickly in warm conditions and reach approximately 90 cm in height.
Lowlander can be grown in dedicated cut-flower beds, mixed annual borders or incorporated among other ornamental grasses and flowering plants.
Harvesting for Fresh Flowers
Lowlander is particularly useful as a fresh cut flower.
Harvest the stems when the flower heads are well developed and have achieved their characteristic purple-grey to bronze colouring.
The slightly pendulous 8–15 cm plumes provide a strong textural element without overwhelming other flowers in the arrangement.
Lowlander pairs particularly well with zinnias, dahlias, amaranthus, asters, sunflowers, celosia and other late-summer flowers.
Its earthy colouring is especially attractive in natural, garden-style and autumn-inspired bouquets.
Excellent for Drying
Lowlander is equally valuable as a dried flower.
Harvest the stems when the plumes are fully formed and have developed good colour, preferably before the flower heads become overly mature.
Remove excess foliage, gather the stems into small bunches and hang them upside down in a dry, dark and well-ventilated place.
Once dried, the sturdy plumes retain their distinctive texture and can be used in dried bouquets, wreaths, seasonal decorations and long-lasting floral arrangements.
For Naturalistic and Landscape Planting
Although primarily valued as a cut flower, Lowlander is also an attractive ornamental grass for garden and landscape use.
At approximately 90 cm tall, it adds height and texture without becoming excessively dominant in mixed plantings.
It works particularly well in naturalistic borders, prairie-inspired gardens, annual flower beds and late-summer planting schemes.
The unusual bronze and purple-grey flower heads become especially effective as the garden transitions from summer into autumn.
Lowlander vs. Hylander
Both Lowlander and Hylander are Setaria italica varieties with beautiful bronze-toned flower heads, but their height makes them useful for slightly different purposes.
Lowlander reaches approximately 90 cm, giving it a more compact habit that is easy to incorporate into mixed cut-flower beds and medium-height arrangements.
Hylander reaches approximately 150 cm, making it the better choice when very long stems and greater vertical impact are required.
For growers wanting the characteristic textural Setaria plumes in a more manageable plant height, Lowlander is an excellent choice.
Why Grow Lowlander?
Purple-grey to bronze plumes • Soft 8–15 cm pendulous flower heads • Approx. 90 cm tall • Annual • Approx. 60–70 days to maturity • Excellent fresh cut flower • Ideal for drying • Useful for bouquets and autumn arrangements • Full-sun variety • Suitable for naturalistic planting and landscaping • Approx. 400 seeds per gram
Setaria italica Lowlander is an excellent choice for growers looking for an easy-to-grow ornamental millet with distinctive purple-grey and bronze flower heads. Its approximately 90 cm height, fast 60–70 day development and versatile plumes make it particularly valuable for fresh bouquets, dried arrangements and naturalistic garden planting.
