Perennials: Ornamental Grasses
This interesting group of landscape plants is finally being seen and enjoyed in Alberta gardens. Ornamental grasses are grown for their colorful or striped foliage and showy seed heads. Grasses look their best when integrated into the mixed border along with perennials, annuals, shrubs and evergreens. Low maintenance designs may rely on ornamental grasses to provide their backbone.
Blue Fescue
Festuca ovina glauca
Cool season, height and spread to 1 foot. Hardiness zone 3. Clumps of fine blue gras are good color contrast plant. Likes sun. ‘Elijah Blue’ and ‘Skinner’s Blue’ are available varieties.
Blue Lyme Grass
Elymus glaucus/racemosus
Warm-season, height and spread 3 fee., hardiness zone 3. Outstanding bright blue foliage color. Fast spreading clumps are aggressively invasive. Tan colored flower spikes appear in summer. Bloom time: July - August.
Blue Oat Grass
Helictotrichon sempervirens
Cool-season, height and spread 2-3 ft., hardiness zone 4. Perfect rounded clumps of intensely blue leaves. This non-spreader is the best blue grass for general purpose border use. Tan spikes appear above on graceful arching stems. Evergreen.
Karl Foerster Grass
Calamagrostis x acutiflora ’Karl Foerster’
Cool season, heigh. 4-5 ft., spread to 2 ft., hardiness zone 3. Stiff, upright habit. Feathery greenish flower plumes appear in summer, then change colors until maturing into stiff wheat-colored spikes, which provide winter interest. Excellent specimens in borders. 2001 Perennial of the Year.
Bulbous Oat Grass
Arrhenatherum elatius bulbosum
Cool-season, height and spread to 1 ft., hardiness zone 2. Bushy, low clumps of cream and green striped leaves. Tan color spikes in spring. Combines well with spring bulbs. Drought tolerant when established.
Hair Grass
Deschampsia caespitosa
Cool-season, height to 3 feet, spread to 15 inches, hardiness zone 4. Clump-forming evergreen grass. Tufts of delicate flowers appear in early summer, gradually turning darker. Mass planting for best effect. Bloom time: May - August.
Red Switch Grass
Panicum virgatum
Warm-season, height and spread to 3 ft., hardiness zone 3. Airy clouds of flowers turn into red seed heads. Outstanding orange fall foliage color. Bloom time: July - August.
Ribbon Grass
Phalaris arundinacea
Cool-season; hardiness zone 2. Fast spreading clumps of striped leaves; invasive; variegated varieties require sunlight for coloration. Good ground cover yet too aggressive for border or rockery. ‘Picta’ (Gardener’s Garters),height 3 ft., green and cream stripes.‘Rosea’ (Feesey Form),height 2 ft., tricolor pink, cream and green stripes
