One of the best grey leafed grasses and it has good flowers too! Low patches of fine, powdery grey foliage and slender stems bearing foxy foxtails in spring. Drained soil in sun. 30cm.
Clumps of bright yellow foliage with narrow green stripes produce tall stems with foxtail flowers in spring. Ordinary soil in full sun, not too dry. 60cm.
syn. Stipa arundinacea - New Zealand Wind Grass. Green foliage tinted orange and red in late summer and autumn. Wispy flowers form a cloud above the foliage in late summer. 1m. Not dry.
Neat little clumps of boldly white variegated foliage to 25cm and upright flowers to about 50cm. Best in well drained soil in sun or part shade. Easy, very hardy and well-behaved.
Spectacular yellow variegated foliage on this recent introduction. It is as hardy as the more familiar A. d. var. versicolor.. 3.5m. Good soil in a warm position.
New to us this tall elegant grass from Asia has fresh green foliage and large bottle-brush-like flowers in autumn. Good autumn foliage too. Hardy and perennial for average soil in sun. 1.5m?
An unusual British native making loose clumps of light green foliage and arching stems of golden-green flowers in summer. Moist to dry soil in part shade is ideal! 40cm.
A new form with golden green flowers on a slightly more compact plant. Shining golden buff seedheads for weeks in summer. Average soil in sun or light shade. 45cm.
A much improved selection of the Perennial Quaking Grass with rich blue-green leaves and larger purplish flowers to 45cm. Best in morning sun where the light catches the dew on it!
Tufts of glossy, rich, green foliage and flowering stems to 1.2m. Upright plumes start pinkish in early autumn and fade to silvery buff. Good in winter.
= C. x acutiflora?? Very similar to 'Karl Foerster' but we can't tell them apart from 'Stricta' either! Upright columns of strong stems topped with purple flushed flowers in early summer. Long lasting seedheads, still look good in winter. 1.5m. Easy in average soil in sun.
A new form from America with a stronger habit than ‘Overdam’ and a reversed variegation. Creamy white stripes, tinged pink and the usual purplish pink flowers in summer. 1.2m? Dense clumps of foliage provide upright columns of stems that last all winter, cut back in February.
Often used in naturalistic gardens this is an excellent garden grass. Dense clumps of foliage and tall, upright stems topped with purple flushed green flowers in summer. 1.5m. Ordinary soil in sun or part shade. Good winter effect from the stems and seedheads.
Very similar to the better known ‘Karl Foerster’ but flowers two weeks earlier, narrow flowers. Dense clumps of foliage and tall, upright stems topped with purple flushed green flowers in summer. 1.5m.
An upright, clump forming grass with relatively short, broad leaves and arching spikes of flattened flowers in late summer/autumn. Good autumn colour from flowers and foliage which continues through winter. 1m. Good soil in sun or light shade.
A recent introduction from Kurt Bluemel. Dwarf growth to only 1.4m. Steely grey foliage and warm buff flowers from July (rather than October as with other cultivars). Full sun, evergreen.
Clumps of narrow, deep green leaves and slender, arching stems bearing metallic bronze flower panicles from early summer, they turn buff with age. Average soil in sun or light shade. 1m.
Clumps of deep green foliage send up arching stems topped with bright golden panicles in early summer. Good seedheads until mid-winter. Semi-evergreen, average soil in sun or shade. 75cm.
Neat clumps of mid-green leaves and upright stems bearing shining heads of golden flowers in early summer. The heads are held throughout summer, autumn and into winter. 60cm.
Evergreen clumps of long narrow leaves produce arching stems with bronzey-buff open panicles on early summer. Seed heads are held until winter. 90cm. Good soil in shade for best effect.
A later flowering selection by Karl Foerster. Flowing silvery brown flowers to 75cm from typical clumps of evergreen foliage. Average soil in shade or better soil in sun.
Tall, arching stems topped with compact heads of silvery flowers, followed by bright butter yellow seedheads. Average to good soil in part shade or shade. 1.2m.
