Six of the best ornamental grasses

Ornamental grasses for dry gravel and prairie style plantings. My six very best recomendations.

If you have ever thought about a drought resistant low maintenances garden with tough disease free easy to grow plants but still want a garden that’s attractive and with long season charm then you must have considered ornamental grasses.

Many grasses are undeniably elegant and graceful adding structure and form to a garden. In the breeze they bring movement and sound. Many have beautiful flowers and later seed heads that last right through the winter season.

I am pleased to highly recommend the following six ornamental grasses as some of the most attractive and interesting specimens available today. You can view images of these grasses at both the Pot and Grass Company website where you will find a wealth of information on growing and planting ornamental grasses and bamboos and garden design ideas or at www.grassgardens.co.uk in the gallery.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Imperata cylindrica'Red Baron'

"The Japanese Blood Grass". This Japanese grass is famous for producing the only genuinely red grass in cultivation. Unique and breathtakingly beautiful. The pale green leaves emerge in late spring gradually turning red in the late season sun when they are blood red like claret. Bolt upright. H 45 cm. W 90 cm.

Elymus Magellanicum a.k.a (Agropyron.M)

"Blue Magellan Wheatgrass" From the Magellan straights of South Americas Cape Horn (named after the navigator Magellan and from whom this grass gets its name) This tufted clump former has the most intense blue foliage of all the grasses. Its colour is so strong other traditional bluish grasses pale into insignificants. A cool season grower it needs sharply drained soil especially in wet winter areas such as the SW and welcomes some light shade to relieve the summer sulks. Drought tolerant and loves the seaside. It makes a superb container specimen. Zone 6 Hardy.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus'"Eulalia Grass"

'Zebrinus'. Horizontally stripped. The original Zebra Grass. Loose arching clumps of fresh leaves. Very attractive. H 240 cm.-W 120 cm. Large, bold, hardy, drought tolerant, easy to grow. greatly appreciated and loved by the prairie style garden disciples. They are perennials with a long flowering season, outstanding autumn colours and winter interest. They are unfussy about soil types, free draining to heavy but not waterlogged.

Pennisetum orientale"The Fountain or Foxtail Grass"

'Orientale'. A slightly smaller cultivar. Produces long thin mauve-pink flower heads all summer and autumn flowers appear from mid summer on tall stems topped by a bottlebrush or foxtail of pink hairs. Sun or light shade and sheltered. Most soils except waterlogged. Is drought resistant when established.

Stipa arundinacae a.k.a Anemanthele lessoniana"The New Zealander"

This comes from guess where? The needle type leaves emerge chocolate brown and aging to olive green with coppery overtones. Autumn flowers. Stipa's have tremendously presence in the garden. Clumps of attractive narrow leaves abundant flowers for long periods. They do not cope with shade. Full sun. they are exposure and drought tolerant. Free draining to dry soil, impoverished with sand is good. Has low nutrient needs.

Nassella Tenuissima a.k.a (STIPA Tenuissima) Mexican Feather Grass.

Probably better known by its old classification Stipa Tenuissima this has proved I think to be our most popular grass to date and it deserves to be. A native of Mexico Texas and Argentina it is at home on dry rocky slopes, open woodlands and dry open spaces. It is one of the finest ornamental grasses. Fountains of fine hair like leaves and threadlike stems terminating in a silvery inflorescence. A cool season grower supposedly, but whose ever heard of a cool blooded Mexican.

We hope you enjoy your grasses and your gardens and find peace and happiness within.