As the snow melts in our valley, I’ve been checking out ornamental grasses. We’ve had a total of over seven feet of snow here since late October, and you’d think most of the grasses would be smashed flat. Not so. For example, check out Hardy Pampas Grass (Erianthus ravennae.) The first picture was taken in late September, and the second was taken a few days ago in the same garden. This garden belongs to Marilyn Fillmore, a neighbor who lives about two miles east of Perennial Favorites. Its aspect is west-southwest, on a slight slope, covered with gravel mulch, and the snow melted here weeks sooner than in my mostly north-facing garden. Location, location, location– it’s everything in gardening.
Hardy Pampas Grass seems capable of withstanding minus 25 F. and still coming back strong, but it does like a long season to produce its blooms. I’m not sure it would do well much above our 6500′ elevation. I’d like to be proven wrong, though, and if anyone is growing it in Westcliffe or Evergreen or Cuchara, let me know.
I tried to find some native grasses to include in this article, but most of the native grasses in my gardens are still covered with snow. There are two in particular that I wish I had pictures of. One, a High Country Gardens introduction, is called Bouteloua ‘Blonde Ambition;’ it was chosen by Plant Select for their 2011 collection and it deserves all the praise it gets, in my opinion.
The second native grass that I planted two years ago (and again last year) is Muhlenbergia reverchonii ‘Autumn Embers.’ Lauren Springer Ogden has a great picture of it in her second edition of The Undaunted Garden. She and her husband Scott Ogden introduced this plant and it is one of my favorite ornamental grasses. If you haven’t read the second edition of The Undaunted Garden you might miss hearing about all the plants that she is trialing in her garden, and that would be a shame. I’m going to spend the next couple of years trying to grow everything new she mentioned. I haven’t seen her current garden in Ft. Collins, but I’ve heard that it is incredible–and much that makes it such a beautiful creation is her use of grasses. She echoes the prairie by weaving grasses through her rock garden, her perennial border, the cactus garden and near native shrubs. The pictures in her book are outstanding. Go now and get a copy and be inspired!
