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#“Muhlenbergia capillaris - Lenca”
taifunu · 2 years
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Pink Muhly Dry… by Barbara
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reddirtramblings · 5 years
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At night when I can’t sleep, I engage in a bit of garden dreaming. Instead of counting sheep, I wander through the everlasting garden in my mind. While meandering, I push away thoughts of garden work because just the images of all I need to do in spring might keep me up all night.
This is about joy, not work.
One of the places I often go is down the main walk of the garden where I sit for a while in the purple chairs.
[bctt tweet=”As J.M. Barrie wrote in A Window in Thrums, God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December. ” username=”reddirtramblin”]
The two beds facing the street in the middle of summer.
When I close my eyes, I see my garden as it was last spring, summer, and fall. The seasons are fluid and usually feature whichever part of the garden is at its best at any given time. There are no limitations of time and space in my mental garden.
[bctt tweet=”The garden of my mind is perfection. It is a foretaste of heaven.” username=”reddirtramblin”]
The garden of my mind is perfection. It is a foretaste of heaven. Bees, hoverflies, and butterflies flit from flower-to-flower gathering pollen and nectar.
One of my honey bees flying to ‘Wendy’s Wish’ salvia, one of my favorite plants.
I envision the golden tummies of my honey bees filled with nectar, and I trust they are well. Flowers unfurl their petals to welcome their beloved with scent and color. I may stop to smell a rose or run my hands through the tall ornamental grasses as I walk. Wherever my mind leads me, that’s where I go.
Rosa ‘The Poet’s Wife’ has no blackspot in my dream garden. She always looks just like this.
Birds sing in the trees. No one is eating anyone else. Not even the praying mantises. No caterpillars are being devoured by birds or wasps. In the garden of my mind, all is well, and no one needs to eat anyone else to survive. Not logical, you say? Perhaps, but this isn’t reality. It’s better.
Benary’s Giant Wine zinnia with a honey bee.
Bordered Patch butterfly, Chlosyne lacinia
Male Monarch butterfly on ‘Bluebird’ aster.
There are times when the garden I visit is in its winter state, receptive for longer days and moisture from the heavens, but most of the time, it’s spring, summer or fall. I like those seasons best so that’s when I visit.
Grasses and other plants in my garden midsummer of 2013. It looks similar now, but the chairs are painted purple. I could no longer find French blue paint.
New border and older garage border.
Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Overdam,’ one of the most beautiful and mature grasses in the garden.
All is harmonious in the garden of my mind.
Paths, back garden and she shed.
If it’s spring, I see daffodils, tulips, and my favorite blue plant, Phlox divaricata ‘Blue Moon.’ In the garden of my mind, there are no voles to eat tulips, no moles to tunnel beneath and upend plants. There is no disease or drought. Instead, the garden of my mind is a cacophony of color. Flowers, grasses and leaves dance and play in the breeze, and the sun is warm on my back as I bend to examine a flower or insect more closely.
After all, I have all the time in the world, and there are no weeds in the garden of my mind.
Phlox divaricata given to me by Wanda Faller years ago.
Phlox divaricata with variegated Solomon’s seal.
Tulips in the garden not eaten by anything.
Double daffodils from John Scheepers bulbs.
Pink and white daffodils have a salmon-hued cup, but in my mind, they are the perfect pink of catalog photographs.
It is supposed to take the average person twenty minutes to fall asleep, and in that time, I can wander quite far. I usually start on the back deck, walking down the steps and opening the gate. My tennis shoes hit the gravel paths crunching beneath my feet. I then turn and look left to the three-tiered borders. Usually, the roses are blooming. Most of my David Austin roses are here, including ‘Darcey Bussell,’ ‘Graham Thomas,’ ‘The Lady Gardener’ and ‘Olivia Rose Austin.’ among others.
Containers on the deck surrounding the chairs.
The tiered borders looking from below on the path.
I have ‘Darcey Bussell’ planted next to Mary in the tiered beds.
Rosa ‘Olivia Rose Austin,’ another newer David Austin rose in my garden.
‘Graham Thomas’ is a strong yellow English rose.
Apricot mystery rose with ‘Niobe’ clematis. What a sweet dichotomy I planted here. Occasionally, a plan works as you want it.
After I stroll the back garden paths, stopping to gaze at my favorite Japanese maple, ‘Tamukeyama,’ I turn left, walk past my little she shed and then climb the hill to the potager where tomatoes are neatly staked, ripened peppers hang on stems in bunches, and beans climb a trellis with basil and lavender planted beneath.
AAS winner ‘Mad Hatter’ pepper is one of my favorites to grow.
Red Racer tomato produces a lot of fruit on a very small plant. It does get some disease, but it hasn’t overwhelmed the plant yet.
‘Valentine’ tomato is a heavy producer of grape tomatoes. It is Indeterminate so make sure you stake it well.
Basil, especially one with red or purple foliage is great in bouquets too. Photo courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Basil and chard I saw planted for fall in an AZ garden.
All this vegetable bounty makes me hungry so I spend a moment or two planning meals around everything ready and waiting. You see, in the garden of my mind, there are no specific seasons or limitations. I just go to that part of the garden I love most in the particular season I love best.
The potager surrounds the red fountain which is the focal point of my vegetable garden.
The potager in July a couple of years ago. This is one of the photos that looks so Mediterranean.
I really like the plant combinations around the red fountain this year. Pineapple sage, ‘Dallas Red’ lantana, ‘Pink Crystals’ ruby grass and ‘Victoria Blue’ salvia (returned from last year.)
Start small with raised beds or containers.
‘Little Fingers’ eggplant in my garden. They were very, very small.
Even with slight flea beetle damage, this eggplant blossom still glows
I love tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, green beans and basil so I visit the potager in its summer months. However, it’s the perfect temperature. Just right for vegetables to ripen, but not sweltering so that I’m begging for water and shade. My greenhouse sits just beyond the potager, so when I choose to visit it, it’s winter.
I cleaned the inside of the greenhouse and grouped the plants by color and type for easier transplanting outside in late April.
Potager planted and cedar mulch for the gardens.
The sweet peas and coleus are growing nicely in the greenhouse.
The greenhouse and cold frames on a cool morning. Notice the condensation on the windows. Everything is nice and warm.
‘Republic of Texas’ orange tree that grows in the greenhouse over winter. The oranges are very good.
Snow is gently falling on the roof, and I look up to see the snowflakes as they fall. The kumquats are ripe, and I pluck one off and chew it tasting first the tang of the fruit and then the sweetness of the peel. I have Meyer lemons and oranges too, but they aren’t yet ripe. Both ripen later than the kumquats and while I can be in any season, my mind seems to acknowledge that everything has its season so all is harmonic and peaceful.
Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘Lenca’ Regal Mist, pink muhly grass with Salvia leucantha, Mexican bush sage.
Maddie posing in front of the street bed. The pink grass is muhly grass.
Pink muhly grass with coleus and Mexican bush sage in 2016. The clumps have just gotten bigger.
Pink muhly grass is starting to show its fall colors.
If I’m still not sleepy and want to wander, even more, I may go out to the bed that faces the street and check out the pink muhly grass. My faithful and beloved dog, Maddie, is there. I’ll then go walk over to the cutting garden beds and see if the zinnias are still going strong.
I always grow several varieties of sunflowers in the cutting garden. I look forward to them each year.
‘Strawberry Blonde’ sunflower.
Here, they bloom with the sunflowers and other annuals to give the pollinators more to eat while also gracing my table with flowers. I may take scissors in hand and cut a bouquet. Suddenly, I’m back inside arranging the flowers. If I see a flower spider, I’ll gently blow it back outside on another flower. I do this in my real life too. I don’t usually kill insects unless I must. Although, in the garden of my mind, no one eats anyone else, we know that birds, snakes, lizards, and other insects must eat to survive. Over the years, I’ve learned to let everything exist pretty much in balance unless something gets way out of hand. Then, I do occasionally intercede.
Usually, by this time, I’ve drifted off to sleep where I may continue to stroll grateful to God that I have a garden in which to go. I’ve spent the last eleven years on this blog, and years before in articles and in garden talks, teaching people how to garden.
If I could give you one gift, it would be this.
One day, I may no longer have the strength to toil in the dirt, but I will still have the garden in my mind.
Please remember, gardening isn’t only about the practical things like when to sow, plant, water, and harvest. It’s also about the garden that resides in our souls, in our dreams. As you drift off to sleep, try thinking of these.
      In the garden of my mind At night when I can't sleep, I engage in a bit of garden dreaming. Instead of counting sheep, I wander through the everlasting garden in my mind.
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bidscape · 6 years
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2017 - Top 100 Most Requested Plants
For the second year in a row, here is a list of the most requested plant material in California (organized from most popular to least):
Callistemon citrinus 'Little John' Agave attenuata Lantana x 'New Gold' Senecio mandraliscae Quercus agrifolia Lophostemon confertus (Tristania conferta) Dianella tasmanica 'Variegata' Agave attenuata 'Blue Flame' Muhlenbergia rigens Muhlenbergia capillaris 'Lenca' Rosa 'Iceberg' Trachelospermum jasminoides Aloe striata Chondropetalum tectorum Lomandra longifolia 'Breeze' Stipa tenuissima (Nassella tenuissima) Ligustrum japonicum 'Texanum' Agave 'Blue Glow' Senecio serpens Carex divulsa Agave americana Lantana montevidensis Dietes bicolor Dymondia margaretae Anigozanthos 'Big Red' Hesperaloe parviflora Echeveria 'Afterglow' Asparagus densiflorus 'Myers' Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus' Rosmarinus officinalis 'Huntington Carpet' Baccharis pilularis 'Pigeon Point' Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' Carissa macrocarpa ‘Green Carpet’ Hesperaloe parviflora 'Perpa' Heteromeles arbutifolia Salvia leucantha Olea europaea 'Montra' Bougainvillea 'La Jolla' (Shrub) Geijera parviflora Platanus racemosa Ficus pumila (Vine) Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red' Juncus patens Cistus x purpureus Leymus condensatus Rosmarinus officinalis 'Tuscan Blue' Cercidium 'Desert Museum' (Multi) Ficus microcarpa nitida (retusa) Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei 'Muskogee' Platanus racemosa (Standard) Muhlenbergia capillaris Verbena lilacina 'De La Mina' Cercidium x 'Desert Museum' Pistacia chinensis Dianella revoluta 'Little Rev' Sesleria autumnalis Buxus microphylla japonica Phormium x 'Yellow Wave' Ceanothus griseus horizontalis 'Yankee Point' Myoporum parvifolium 'Putah Creek' Rhus integrifolia Russelia equisetiformis Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' Salvia leucantha ‘Santa Barbara’ Prunus caroliniana 'Compacta' Platanus racemosa (Multi) Cercis occidentalis Podocarpus gracilior (Column) Coprosma repens 'Marble Queen' Arbutus 'Marina' Schinus molle Pittosporum tobira 'Wheeler's Dwarf' Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard Mcminn' Carex praegracilis Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterflies' Aeonium 'Sunburst' Quercus agrifolia (Standard) Dasylirion wheeleri Prunus caroliniana 'Bright 'n Tight' (Column) Pinus eldarica Chamaerops humilis Rhaphiolepis indica 'Ballerina' Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Silver Sheen' Platanus acerifolia 'Columbia' (Standard) Quercus virginiana Citrus limon 'Meyer Improved' Juncus patens 'Elk Blue' Trachelospermum jasminoides (staked) Senecio cylindricus Westringia 'Wynyabbie Gem' Arbutus 'Marina' (Standard) Cercis occidentalis (Multi) Westringia fruticosa 'Morning Light' Lavandula stoechas 'Otto Quast' Dianella caerulea 'Cassa Blue' Acacia redolens 'Desert Carpet' Dodonaea viscosa 'Purpurea' Nandina domestica 'Gulf Stream' Arbutus 'Marina' (Multi) Dietes vegeta (Moraea iridioides)
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blackpjensen · 7 years
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5 Favorite Xeric Plants for Many Regions
The palette of plants that can tolerate challenging dry conditions is growing, extending their usefulness from xeric regions to friendlier climes. Our friends at American Nurseryman asked noted plantsman Nicholas Staddon to recommend a few of his favorite selections. These woody and perennial plants that are rugged enough to withstand reduced supplemental water — and are able to provide pleasing forms and delightful colors.
Herperaloe parvifloria ‘Perpa’ Brakelights® Photo: Monrovia
1. Hesperaloe parviflora
“My first selection is a Hesperaloe parviflora, the red yucca,” Staddon says. “There’s a variety which has been on the market for a couple of years, actually probably about four years, called Brakelights (Hesperaloe parviflora ‘Perpa’ Brakelights® PP# 21729). It’s the result of a breeding program run by Ron Gass, who owns Mountain States Wholesale Nursery, and it is, without a doubt, one of the most floriferous Hesperaloes on the market.”
The species is native to Texas and northern Mexico, so it’s tough as nails and thrives in full sun and reflected heat to Zone 5.
“Brakelights® is a smaller, more compact grower” than the species, Staddon describes. “Hesperaloes over a period of time can get very big and very rambunctious.” This slow-growing selection, however, forms a 2-foot clump of very narrow, blue-green leaves, from which spring extended flower stalks sporting brilliant blooms. “This is the reddest of all the hesperaloes,” Staddon claims. “And she sets little or no seed, so because of that, she has an extended flowering season. She will rebloom on the same stem, which is very unusual. Depending on where you are, the blooming season might change a little bit, but in my garden [in southern California], I’ve had a Brakelights that started blooming in September and the flower is just coming to its end now [early June].”
The desert willow. Chilopsis linearis ‘Monhews’ (Timeless Beauty®) Photo: Doreen Wynja for Monrovia
2. Chilopsis linearis
Close up: Chilopsis linearis ‘Monhews’ Timeless Beauty® Desert Willow. Photo: Doreen Wynja for Monrovia
“This is a smaller tree or large shrub, the desert willow. It’s a plant that is really gaining in popularity, and breeders are doing more work with it,” Staddon claims.
“It’s very versatile; it makes a wonderful single plant in a small garden, and it’s been used along freeways,” he adds. “Chilopsis has been a real foundation of many gardens and landscapes in the Southwest for many years, but more and more people are starting to discover this plant. There are lots of varieties out there; you’ve got the seedling selections, which can go from kind of whitish to soft pink to soft purple. There are other great varieties on the market: There’s one called Warren Jones™, which has more of a soft pink flower with a yellow throat. There’s a pure white called ‘White Storm’, which has wonderful pink buds and then a pure white flower. Timeless Beauty® is one of the better seedless varieties on the market.
“They can get quite large, and they tend to be more multistemmed. They are deciduous, but they provide a profuse season of flowering; great for the pollinators as well,” Staddon concludes.
In general, desert willow is fast growing and can reach to 25 feet tall and wide at maturity in full or part sun. It’s hardy to Zone 6.
Read More from American Nurseryman: 5 Colorful Xeric Plants 
3. Muhlenbergia capillaris
Deer grass — Muhlenbergia capillaris — is becoming more and more popular out West, according to Staddon. “Muhlenbergias are almost a household name in the Southwest,” he states. “Probably one of the best known varieties is Regal Mist®; once again it’s a seedling selection from Mountain States. Rarely do you ever see just one of these. They’re planted en masse, and in mid- to late summer they have this marvelous seed set, where the tops of the plants will get covered with these great purple flowers. And if you plant them where you get an afternoon breeze coming through, the seed heads will actually move with the wind. That alone makes you feel cool.”
Deer grass: Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘Lenca’ (Regal Mist®) Photo: Doreen Wynja for Monrovia
Staddon says that Regal Mist has “by far the most visual display; real nice pink flowers at the end of the season. She’s evergreen, so she’s going to show in the spring and all year around.
“I think one of the things that people love about them so much is whether they have flowers on them or not, they still look absolutely just fantastic,” he adds.
Regal Mist® reaches about 3 feet tall and wide and has a fast growth rate. It thrives in full sun and locations with reflected heat in Zone 6. According to Mountain States, reseeding has not been an issue.
4. Cupressus sempervirens
Italian cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) is “a plant that has ruled the roost in the Southwest for many years — really, up and down the West Coast,” Staddon says. “It’s just synonymous with that Mediterranean climate out here. It’s used as a wind break, it’s used as an accent plant, it’s used as a container plant.”
Italian cypress: Cupressus sempervirens ‘Monshel’ Tiny Tower® Photo: Doreen Wynja for Monrovia
The species is slow growing and can reach up to 100 feet or so, but there are two cultivars that Staddon deems worthy of mention:
“One is a Monrovia introduction called Tiny Tower®, and Tiny Tower has probably been out there for 15, 16 years,” he states. “It’s used extensively by homeowners and also by the design community. It’s a much smaller growing flavor of the species — it probably will top out at about 30 to 35 feet [by 3 feet wide], and it maintains a really nice, upright, narrow habit. It tends to do better in the warmer, drier climates, so in the Southeast, even though it might be warm down there, they might get some spider mites.”
Tiny Tower® is said to maintain its narrow, columnar form without pruning, making it an excellent choice for formal plantings or as a container specimen in zones 7 to 10.
“The other variety is called Swane’s Golden,” Staddon says. “Swane’s Golden was created by Mrs. Swane, who was a nursery owner and breeder in New Zealand, and it has been around for absolutely donkey’s years. Again, it’s a smaller grower, very nice upright, compact habit and has a wonderful gold cast to it; it is by far one of the most popular golds of the Italian cypress.
“These plants could be used as hedgerows, they could be used as accent plants in the landscape, and they’re just wonderful for container plants as well,” he adds. “Some people will even shear them into topiary. Because they’re so tight and compact, they make a great spiral. I’ve never seen a plant bigger than 8 to 20 feet high. This is a really interesting plant, because it goes in cycles of fashion; it’ll be fashionable for seven or eight years, and then it’s not fashionable, and then everybody wants it again.”
Swane’s Golden is hardy in zones 7 to 9.
These C. sempervirens selections are very narrow and very columnar. “Both of these varieties are marked improvements; they do maintain a more columnar, upright growth habit. The traditional Italian cypress can get branches that can get large and the plant can open out. But these are good, narrow upright plants,” Staddon explains.
Read More from American Nurseryman: The Basics of Xeric Landscaping
5. Callistemon
The distinctive bottlebrush plant is one that’s not to be missed.
Bottlebrush plant: Callistemon citrinus ‘Little John’ Dwarf. Photo: Doreen Wynja for Monrovia
“A plant that really is in vogue in the Southwest and Texas is Callistemon (bottlebrush); they’re very, very popular,” Staddon says. “There’s a new one on the market that’s been out a year or so, which is called Slim™ (Callistemon viminalis ‘CV01’). Slim is a really upright, columnar plant. It comes from a breeding program in Australia called Tuffy Plants, and it’s readily available on the market here. It’s such a unique plant; so different from every other callistemon that’s out there.”
Slim is a prolific bloomer, and in spring to summer — nearly year-round in mild climates — it’s “festooned with flowers, absolutely covered with flowers,” Staddon describes. “Callistemon has these wonderful, bright red flowers that are really favored by pollinators.”
Slim reaches about 8 to 10 feet tall by 3 to 4 feet wide, much narrower than other selections, making it suitable for a variety of uses. “Its primary application is for a hedge, or a triangle of three in the garden to make an architectural statement. I think this plant is going to be an absolute winner,” Staddon claims.
Another favorite of Staddon’s is Little John (Callistemon citrinus ‘Little John’), which has been around for years and “continues to be planted in pretty much every landscape,” he says. “Gardeners use the plant extensively in their own gardens; great for a hedge; great for a triangle of three. It’s an early season, but long season bloomer, it has these wonderful, bright red flowers that are really favored by pollinators. Little John is really fun, because the foliage has a blue cast to it, so you’ve got a bluish-greenish foliage against the red flowers.”
Little John is a slow growing selection, reaching only 3 feet tall by 5 feet wide.
Both bottlebrush choices are hardy in zones 8 to 11.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on AmeriNursery.com. Nicholas Staddon is known as “The Plantsman,” consultant and strategic marketing partner for Village Nurseries Wholesale. Staddon previously served as the director of new plants and national spokesperson for Monrovia Growers for over 25 years.
The post 5 Favorite Xeric Plants for Many Regions appeared first on Turf.
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reddirtramblings · 5 years
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Before settlers crossed the Mississippi River and literally ran for 160-acre plots in one of several Oklahoma land runs in the late 1800s, much of the territory’s western half was covered in mixed prairie grasses.  In what became Oklahoma Territory, the Osage, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche and Apache tribes hunted bison and other animals. Oklahoma’s diverse landscape, including its glorious grasses, made such hunting possible because prairie and forest plants provided cover and forage for animals like bison, elk, bear, rabbits, squirrels, turkeys, and white-tailed deer. On the eastern side of Indian Territory, the land was wooded with blackjack oaks, eastern cottonwoods, post and pin oaks, and many other tree species. Being rocky and hard to develop, much of it is still very wooded today.
1892 Map of Oklahoma and Indian Territories courtesy of the Library of Congress.
I live at the junction between the prairie and the forest in what is now Logan County, a green section at the center of the map above. Each day, I wake up grateful that I own 7.5 acres of land where I continue to work in a garden that’s become a pollinator and bird habitat. Lizards, snakes and frogs like it too. It’s always a work in progress, and that’s what makes gardening such a fascinating hobby. You never run out of things to learn.
And, one thing I’ve learned over the last ten years is that glorious grasses help me build my own little corner of the prairie.
[Click on photos in the galleries to make them larger.]
Grasses and other plants in my garden midsummer of 2013. It looks similar now, but the chairs are painted purple. I could no longer find French blue paint.
Pennisetum purpureum ‘Fireworks’ with Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’ behind. See how great they go with my purple chairs?
Tallgrass prairie once covered 14 states throughout the central part of the United States.  On November 12, 1996, the Nature Conservancy purchased the Chapman-Barnard Ranch covering 29,000 acres near Pawhuska, Oklahoma. This purchase helped form what is now the 39,650 acres of the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, once part of the Cherokee Outlet and the Osage lands in the above map and stretching into southern Kansas.
Bill and I have visited the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve numerous times in various seasons. It is a source of respite and inspiration to me in my own garden. I especially notice this In late summer and early fall. Grasses that have been providing background support for the rest of our landscape now take center stage. Ornamental grasses are at their full height and sport fully-formed seedheads. The prairie is a thing of true beauty in any season, but in fall, it is magical. Ornamental grasses breathe life into a garden. Let them breathe life into yours.
Good old Miscanthus sinensis, maiden grass in my garden. It is next to Blush Knockout rose. Although M. sinensis is invasive in some parts of the U.S., it has never moved from this spot in my garden. I also use ‘Adagio’ in another spot.
How can you replicate some of the tallgrass prairie for your home? One way is by strategically planting grasses. Although the Great American Prairie is composed of a multitude of plants, grasses are its living backbone providing structure for three seasons out of the year. The only time ornamental grasses don’t look good is in late winter/early spring when just cut back. However, the plants surrounding them will shelter grasses until they begin to grow. Grasses are relatively unobtrusive unless you have an entire row of a particular grass as I do with my pink muhly grass.
Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘Lenca’ Regal Mist, pink muhly grass, with Salvia leucantha, Mexican bush sage peeking through.
Even then, the grasses don’t look bad. They just don’t look like anything.
Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’ blue grama grass. I grow it in pure gravel, and only water it occasionally in summer.
Many varieties of grass are simple to grow. In fact, in some climates, they can be invasive, but we haven’t seen that in Oklahoma. You can grow many by seed, or by purchasing container grown plants in the spring or fall. Although I have grown some by seed, I prefer to buy plants to get things more quickly established. Some of the ones I grow are native. Others are not. I tend to choose grasses based upon what I need in a particular space. I then surround them with other prairie plants attractive to pollinators and birds. Although I still love roses and grow them, Rose Rosette Disease wiped out many of my rose shrubs. I will never plant a rose in the same spot for a variety of reasons, and I’ve found grasses are wonderful for rose replacement although I’ve also planted numerous fruiting shrubs for the birds too.
Grasses require some garden work, but it isn’t onerous.
Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Ginger Love’ is a dwarf fountain grass that I love more than ‘Hameln,’ although I grow ‘Hameln’ too.
Grasses come is many different heights. Among the shortest are Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’ and ‘Ginger Love’ dwarf fountain grasses. I love these small grasses for the front of the garden bed. In fact, I bought two more one-gallon containers of ‘Hameln,’ and I’ve planted them in the front of the garage border. Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Standing Ovation’ is a shorter little bluestem grass. I have trouble growing bluestem grasses, tall or small, in my garden probably because I water more than they like. I use drip irrigation, but I also have years like this one where Oklahoma received tons of rain. Bluestem grasses do not like too much rain or enriched soils. I have both at various times. I also can’t grow Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’ fescue.
No one can grow everything, and that’s okay.
Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’ up close. See all those shades of yellow?
P. virgatum ‘Northwind’ turning bright yellow.
P. virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’ with a crapemyrtle behind.
I have tremendous success with the native switchgrasses, and I grow several from tall ‘Northwind’ to the shorter ‘Heavy Metal’ and ‘Cheyenne Skies.’ At eight or nine feet, ‘Cloud Nine’ is one of the tallest switchgrasses available. At the present time, panicums are probably my favorite grasses. They’ve performed so well in the garden that I’ve been able to split them several times. All of the switchgrasses turn beautiful colors in the fall with some being more yellow and others more purple. They are perennial.
Rosa ‘September Song’ with P. virgatum ‘Cheyenne Skies’ behind it.
Speaking of purple grasses, for pure theater, I don’t think you can beat Pennisetum purpureum ‘Fireworks.’ I’ve grown this grass in pots on the deck and in the borders for years. I especially love it with coleus and Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes.’ Such a beautiful combination. Purple fountain grass is not perennial in Zone 7, but also check out ‘Princess Caroline’ for a large focal point.
Pennisetum purpureum ‘Fireworks’ with Phlox paniculata ‘Bright Eyes’ behind. See how great they go with my purple chairs?
Pennisetum purpureum with purple heart and coleus at Bustani Plant Farm.
Another view of ‘Campfire’ coleus and purple fountain grass in the terraces. The trees are still small, but they will get bigger each year eventually providing windbreaks and shade.
The very gorgeous Pennisetum ‘Princess Caroline’ is a showstopper next to Hibiscus ‘Maple Sugar’ and Senorita Blanca® cleome.
Dramatic dark grass at OSU Botanical Gardens. Might be ‘Princess Caroline’ or Vertigo.
If you want a nice tall grass with large plumes, consider Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Overdam,’ a variegated selection. If you can’t find ‘Overdam,’ try ‘Karl Foerster.’ I’m growing it along a fenced border in the back garden as a kind of screen. It’s going to take a while to fill in. I like larger grass clumps at the edge of my gardens because they dissuade deer from entering the space. They don’t like the swishing noise or that they cannot see.
Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ with the very late-blooming and tall  Hemerocallis ‘Autumn Minaret’ daylilies.
  Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Overdam.’ In front of the grass is Penstemon smallii ‘Violet Dusk.’ 
I mustn’t forget Mexican feather grass either. Although it is invasive in some climates, it is well-behaved here. I do have to replant it periodically because it tries to die out. I love how the plumes swish with the wind. Is there anything better?
Mexican feather grass and other plants, native and non-native make up a the palette used by Piet Oudolf.
Phlox divaricata, woodland phlox with Mexican feather grass planted in a shallow border. I lined the border with Nassella tenuissima, Mexican feather grass because it softens the concrete.
Nassella tenuissima, Mexican feather grass, planted along the edge of a border softens the concrete blocks.
Side border next to the deck has Tightwad Wad crapemyrtles, Little Lime® and Quick Fire® hydrangeas. There are also daylilies and Mexican feather grass in this border.
Try some glorious grasses in your garden, and you’ll see what I mean.
  Glorious grasses Before settlers crossed the Mississippi River and literally ran for 160-acre plots in one of several Oklahoma land r…
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reddirtramblings · 5 years
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Pink muhly grass in Oklahoma
Pink muhly grass in Oklahoma
Muhly grass ‘Regal Mist,’ Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘Lenca’ is most beautiful in early morning and just before the sun sets. This was taken in the evening.
Pink muhly grass is the big star this week in my Little Cedar Garden.
My five plants have finally grown into their adult form. It’s been a long time coming–five or six years to get this kind of stand in the front bed. It now stops traffic on our…
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