Mary Meyer

Dr. Meyer joined the Horticultural Science faculty in 1994 and has primarily an Extension, teaching and research appointment. She has recently transitioned to emeritus faculty status. Her research interests include native and ornamental grasses and sedges, especially Miscanthus, Schizachyrium, Pennisetum and Carex pensylvanica. She has studied the propagation and production of grasses including cold hardiness, and low maintenance sustainable landscaping. Blue Heaven is a patented little bluestem, (Schizachyrium), she released in 2007. She also conducts research on alternative low maintenance turfgrasses. She has studied Miscanthus and where it has escaped in the United States, especially in national parks, and authored the website entitled Miscanthus: Ornamental and Invasive Grass. She is the author of Ornamental Grasses for Cold Climates, which can be purchased from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Dr. Meyer manages the North American Plant Collections Consortium Ornamental Grass Collection at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, which was first planted in 1987. In 2012 she initiated the National Grass Trials evaluation with eleven states that evaluate cultivars of native grasses such as little bluestem and switchgrass. For more information on these evaluations, see grasstrials.com.

Projects completed by Meyer's Master's Masters of Professional Studies in Horticulture include:
Public Gardens of Minnesota
Online learning is equally as effective as traditional classroom training for Master gardeners