Panicum bulbosum

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Price:  £5.00 –+ Add to Basket Brand:  The Plantsman's Preference Family:  Poaceae Main Season:  Summer Flower Colour:  Red Leaf Colour:  Blue/grey/silver Foliage:  Deciduous Position:  Sun Soil Type:  Ordinary, medium loam Height:  90cm to 1.2m (3' to 4') Peat Free?  Yes Hardiness Guide:  RHS H7 minimum at least -20C Pot Size:  9cm Availability:      Approx. 2 in stock View our Pot Size guide:

A clump forming perennial grass with bulbous roots, greyish foliage and sprays of red tinted flowers in summer to 75cm. Drained soil in sun.

Less common than Panicum virgatum but this species is useful as it flowers a couple of months earlier.  Tight clumps produce elegant tufts of greyish green foliage and arching stems of narrow panicles of flower in mid-summer.  The flowers are red tinted to start soon turning buff as they go to seed.  Unfortunately the seedheads do not last long and the plant is completely deciduous, even so, Panicum bulbosum is an attractive and useful grass flowering earlier than many.

A graceful plant suited to a drained soil in full sun but it will tolerate damper soils and some shade remarkably well.  It can self seed in bare soil or loose mulches but is not a problem in well stocked borders.  The seedlings are instantly recognisable by the swollen stem bases and easy to weed out or relocate even when very small.

From South, Central and southern North America.