Molinia caerulea ssp. arundinacea 'Transparent'

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Price:  £6.50 Notify me when this item is available Family:  Poaceae Main Season:  Summer Flower Colour:  Brown Leaf Colour:  Green Foliage:  Deciduous Position:  Sun Soil Type:  Good, moist, humus-rich Height:  1.2m to 1.8m (4' to 6') Peat Free?  Yes Hardiness Guide:  RHS H7 minimum at least -20C Pot Size:  1.4L Availability:      None available at present. View our Pot Size guide:

Possibly the most popular Molinia due to it's very airy flowers and thin but strong stems. Open panicles to 2.1m in summer and good autumn colour and seedheads. Excellent for giving height to a border without blocking the view and mixing with late summer flowers like Monarda and Lythrum to give good flower and seedhead combinations. Good to moist soil in full sun.

'Transparent' has been widely planted (and continues to be) by many eminent garden designers including Piet Oudolf.  It is particularly effective in his designs at Pensthorpe, RHS Wisley and Scampston Hall Walled Garden where it is placed with herbaceous perennials with strong, architectural flower and seed heads such as Eryngium, Echinacea, Monarda and Veronicastrum.

The mid green foliage and stems turn to a light yellow as the temperatures drop in mid-late autumn, the seedheads going a golden buff.  As with most of the Purple Moor Grasses, 'Transparent' is often at it's best in October and November when the foliage has lost it's pale yellow colour and become strawy gold.  The seedheads stand well into mid winter.

Named by Karl Partisch in 1977.