Ornamental Grasses
Annual Grasses    Perennial Grasses

Annual Ornamental Grasses

Grasses can be used in many ways for landscape design and are very popular landscape specimens. Ornamental grasses combine well with almost any kind of plant. Several types provide dramatic and lasting interest throughout the winter months, whether they are valued for their flowery plumes, spikes or seed heads. They also catch the wind, adding movement and sound to the landscape.

Carex buchanaii ‘Red Rooster’(Leather Leaf Sedge):     sunny afternoon shade deer     4” Blue/18 per flat      Height:  16-24”

More intensely colored than other sedge grasses. This finely textured ornamental grass has densely tufted, bright reddish-bronze foliage slightly curled at the tips. Effective in borders, containers, rock gardens or around water gardens. Contrasts virtually with any other perennial.

Carex comans ‘Amazon Mist’:     sunny afternoon shade deer     4” Blue/18 per flat      Height:  10”

An unusually colored ornamental grass. Fine silvery green foliage gives a misty appearance and different texture to borders or containers.

Carex flagellifera ‘Bronzita’:     sunny afternoon shade deer     4” Blue/18 per flat     Height: 10-12”

Colorful reddish-bronze foliage that is finely textured.  The thin foliage gracefully arches to form an attractive mound. Cascades gracefully in containers.

Eragrostis elliottii ‘Wind Dancer’:    sunny drought cut     #1 Blue/8 per flat              Height: 3’

Blue Love Grass. Billowy-textured, grayish-blue grass blooms the color of light wheat in June. The blooms look like rolling fluffy clouds. Graceful in form. Smart choice for containers or in clumps of three or five in beds. Use plumes for cut flower arrangements.

Isolepis ‘Live Wire’ (Fiber Optic Grass):    sunny afternoon shade     4” Blue/18 per flat           Height:  8-10”

Decorative grass that grows well by water. Produces an umbel of spiklets atop slender stems that tend to ‘glimmer’. Forms a dense mounding habit. Great addition to containers with its billowing leaves. Impossible to pass without touching.

Koeleria gluaca coolio (Blue Hair Grass):     sunny afternoon shade drought cut deer     4” Blue/18 per flat      Height:  10-12”

Forms a low mound of very fine blue-green leaves. Creamy yellow flowers turn into tan seed heads. Very attractive in mass plantings.

Pennisetum Purple Fountain Grass:    sunny afternoon shade     #1 Purple/8 per flat     Height:   30-36”

Waves of gracefully nodding soft burgundy plumes arching over burgundy purple foliage in true fountain grass form. This variety is especially dramatic in containers, clusters, and mass plantings.

Stipa tenuissima (Pony Tail Grass):    sunny afternoon shade deer     4” Terra Cotta/18 per flat     Height:   20-30”

Graceful, fine, needle-like green foliage forms mounding clumps of textural interest. Golden-blonde seed heads in mid-summer resemble a horsetail. Useful in containers and the landscape.

Perennial Ornamental Grasses

Calamagrostis ‘Karl Forester’:   sunny afternoon shade deer     #1 Purple/8 per flat      #2 Black/Sold as eaches     Zone 4      Height:  4-5’      Bloom Time: August-September

Strong and vertical, makes an exclamation point in the garden. Tall masses of deep green blades. Showy wheat colored heads in late summer. Perennial Plant of the Year 2001.

Festuca glauca ‘Boulder Blue’:     sunny afternoon shade deer     #1 Purple/8 per flat     Zone 4      Height:   8”     Bloom Time:  July-August

Bluest fescue to date. Wiry hair-like foliage that keeps its color all year round. Small, rounded clumps. Wheat-like seed heads appear late summer. Perfect for rock gardens or as an edging. Shorter, tighter habit that 'Elijah Blue'.

Festuca ovina ‘Elijah Blue’:    sunny afternoon shade     4” Purple/18 per flat     #1 Black/8 per flat     Zone 4      Height:  6-10”     Bloom Time:  August-September

Powder-blue blades form tight, mounding clumps. Great for rock gardens and containers.

Festuca ovina ‘Glauca’:     sunny afternoon shade     4” Black/ 18 per flat     Zone 3     Height:  12-14”     Bloom Time:  August-September

Blue-green tufted grass creates a very showy mound for edging beds and borders. Interesting accent in containers.

Juncus tenuis 'Blue Dart':     sunny afternoon shade drought cold hardy     #1 Purple/8 per flat     Zone 4     Height:  14-16”     Bloom Time:  August-September

Compact blue foliaged, spiky ornamental grass that will tolerate any soil from dry to standing water. Blue Dart has a spray type habit that makes it very suitable for containers and baskets.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus':    sunny afternoon shade deer      #1 Purple/8 per flat     Zone 5     Height:  4-6’     Bloom Time:  September

Distinctive yellow horizontal banded leaves with an upright habit. Use as a specimen or in large containers.

Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hamelin':     sunny afternoon shade deer     #1 Purple/8 per flat     Zone 5      Height:  36"     Bloom Time:  August

This dwarf fountain grass is finely textured with mid green leaves. Soft creamy panicles appear in the fall.

Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Little Bunny':    sunny afternoon shade deer   #1 Purple/8 per flat     Zone 5      Height:   10-12"             Bloom Time:  August

Brought back by popular demand! Miniature fountain grass. Forms a neat compact mound with foxtail flowers only two inches long. Useful for mass plantings and rock gardens.

Pennisetum orientale ‘Karley Rose’:  sunny deer       #1 Purple/8 per flat     Zone 5                Height:   24-36”          Bloom Time:  June-August

'Fountain Grass'. A warm season fountain grass that forms graceful spreading clumps. Narrow, gray-green leaves with showy, fluffy, pinkish-white flower spikes. Foliage changes to yellowish-tan in the fall and usually remains attractive throughout winter.

Phalaris arundinacea ‘Picta’ (Ribbon Grass):    sunny afternoon shade     #1 Black/8 per flat     Zone 4     Height:  3-4’     Bloom Time:  August-September

Flowing mounds of white and green striped blades. Beautiful in backgrounds.