the living world is green: Ornamental Grasses are cooler than you think

At some point, during the numerous rounds of introductions that occur when you are constantly meeting new people, it comes out that my graduate work involves working with grasses. Because people up here are all secret gardeners, a lot of them recognize a few grass genera, like Miscanthus or Arundo, and while they are excited about using grasses for biofuels , they are also, with good reason, usually a bit concerned about the invasive potential of some of the genera and species we are exploring.

Don't worry secret gardeners, sterility is a focus.

It is true, that some grasses are a bit difficult to control. Some are quite difficult to control. But I will tell you a secret that all the real gardeners know: grasses, in combination with hardy perennials, are the future of ornamental gardening. Despite this, I have noticed a general hesitancy of the general public to use grasses in personal gardens. I believe this to be a combination of trepidation (due to the negative reputation of some of their rowdier cousins), preoccupation with bright flowers, and lack of proper grass socialization (there are lots of nice grasses out there, you just have to go out and meet them).

To be fair, it is easy to get preoccupied with flowers.

But its not all about flowers in the garden: ultimately a good looking garden looks good because of the textures and forms the garden utilizes. If you're doing it right, your garden looks good even as a black and white photograph. Color is the icing on the cake.

While I can't help with the preoccupation with flowers, and can't guarantee that certain grasses won't become ornery little monsters if you plant them and then ignore them, I can help with the lack of proper socialization, by introducing some of the more charming and interesting ornamental grasses I've met recently.

But first, some introductions:

Grasses are found pretty much all over the world in almost every climate. There are basically three large grass families: the true grasses (grasses found in the Poaceae family) the sedges (Cyperaceae) and the rushes.

Poaceae contains over 10,000 different grass species bound together by a few similar traits: hollow stems that become solid at the nodes, and alternate leaves (called blades) with parallel venation. These grasses "grow up" in that the actively growing portions of the grass are located near the ground in many species, or at the base of the leaves, so that minimal damage is inflicted by grazing. Many grasses grow in size by producing rhizomes, or stems that spread along or under the ground, sending up new little daughter plants or shoots. Some grasses are more ferociously rhizominous, leading to their unfortunate, though often legitimate, labeling as "thug plants."

But its not all bad, or even nearly bad. You might not know it, but you are already in love with grasses. All this convincing is pretty much just for fun, because, deep down, you already know: grasses are the reason you exist.

Grasses are some of the only plants that really matter to us, as far as general utility is concerned. If we were forced to choose 100 plants to save in this WHOLE WORLD, grasses would be at the top of the list. Poaceae contains some of the celebrity grasses that our species has known, loved, and bred for literally thousands of years, including all the major cereals.

Here are the heavyweights: corn, rice, wheat, millet, barley, oats, sorghum, rye, sugarcane, bamboo, and pretty much all turf grasses. If you're wondering about papyrus, yep, its a grass too (technically a sedge). Not to mention that the majority of our herbivore food species are grass eaters.

Long story short, these things are adaptive, and we have adapted to live with them. Make no mistake, we are not forest dwellers. We are the horses of primates. We colonized the woods after our gradual evolution among grasslands, and many of us took the grasses we had come to rely on back to the woods with us. Our history begins with our harnessing the power of grasses, and their domestication of us. Who knows, maybe turning grasses into energy is just the next step in that process.

Japanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrica) scary name for a pretty plant [careful though, it runs]:

Grasses in the Landscape:

Grasses are not roses. They are subtle, reliable, provide a long season of interest, and can tolerate diverse and difficult environments. They help to recreate the strange, wild tranquility of meadows and prairies by catching and dispersing light through their movement, resulting in a background that is both static and dynamic simultaneously. They can grow in tough soil, and many provide their own natural fertilizers by attracting microcritters and getting them to fix nitrogen for them in return for food. They decrease erosion, are generally disease resistant and largely pest free. Drawn to their unique texture and movement, their muted colors and strong forms provide a place for eyes to rest as they scan the landscape.

This is why grasses are on the cutting edge of landscape design.

Switch grass (Panicum virgatum) 'Heavy Metal' and Arkansas Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii)

'Heavy Metal' is a nice powdery blue selection, that will turn yellow to beige in the fall, and will usually remain upright in the winter. It can handle drought conditions, and holds its upright form well enough to use as a single planting in a garden (though it looks nice as a mass planting as well). Gets about five feet tall.

Just in case you keep seeing turf grass every time you close your eyes and imagine grasses, I have included some pictures from my adventures that explore a sampling of the many varieties of form, color, and texture that grasses have to offer:

Form: Canes, clumpers, runners, and blades

The form of a plant is determined by the plant's structure. Grasses exhibit a wide range of forms, from the larger cane species (like bamboo) to your cane-lacking tiny turf grasses. The forms I will be looking at include canes, clumpers, cascading vs upright, and differences in leaf (blade) thickness.

With the exception of Arundo donax, I don't have any pictures of "runners" in this blog entry, mostly because grasses traditionally categorized as runners tend to be invasive and not "garden safe." While most grasses produce rhizomes to increase in size, the proximity to the mother plant and the frequency of sending up shoots is important in determining if a grass uses its rhizomes to "run" or to "clump." As is to be expected, runners send up shoots that are located away from the mother plant, while clumpers send up shoots that remain, at least visibly, part of the mother plant.

Arundo donax: Upright canes

This huge grass, sometimes called Giant Cane (because of its tendency to get almost twenty feet tall in places with long, hot summers) is originally native to eastern Asia. From far away, it is easily confused with corn. The tall, upright canes produce long alternate blades at each node (about a foot apart). It grows very quickly: with access to enough water, it can grow up to five centimeters a day. The canes are strong, flexible, durable, and the source for reeds used in musical instruments like saxophones and oboes. Watch out though, depending on where you live this grass could be invasive. It is also highly flammable during drier months. Fun Fact: some enthobotanists think compounds in A. donax might have been an ingredient in the now lost drink/drug Soma used by ancient Hindu and Zoroastrian priests.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light': Thin, cascading clumpers

Miscanthus have been used as ornamental grasses for centuries. There are tons of Miscanthus cultivars and a few different species to choose from, resulting in pretty significant variety throughout the genus. 'Morning Light,' for example, has thin green leaves with light yellow stripes edging the blades. It puts on tall flower spikes, with small maroon flowers which fade to silver as winter approaches.

Feather reed grass Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster': Thin, upright clumpers

Eventually all those flower spikes are going to puff out into tiny feathery rose-purple flowers. The screening effect (being able to see through one plant and observe another) is often more apparent when the grass is thin and upright, which makes the grass more susceptible to movement during the softest breezes.

Switch grass Panicum virgatum 'Hanse Herms': Upright clumper

Another switch grass. This particular cultivar is sometimes called red switch grass because of the deep burgundy fall color. Unlike 'Heavy Metal,' the foliage is a soft green with red highlights.

Hakone grass Hakonechloa macra 'Albovariegata' Thick, cascading clumpers

One of the few grasses that can tolerate some shade, this is probably one of my favorite grasses. These soft grasses create circular mounds about three feet high. They range in color from a bright lime to the nice, darker green you expect from grasses. Some cultivars, like 'Albovariegata' exhibit variegation.

Hakonechola (no variegation)

Color

Grasses are colorful! If you don't like green, how about purple? Or copper, or pink? How about some variegation, or some white? Just saying, its not all green all the time.

Hakonechola 'Aureola'

While it only gets to be about two feet tall, it makes up for its size by being super interesting. Thin band of green, edged on both sides by yellow stripes. Nice.

Carex buchananii 'Red Rooster'

A nice copper-colored sedge with red accents. Its also nice in containers if you buy it when its still a small quart-sized grass.

Arundo donax 'Peppermint Stick'

I really like this plant. Was a sport off of a regular looking Arundo. What a great cultivar name. Must say that it looks great up here right now. That photo is from the heat of summer, and it is still keeping that clear white variegation. Awesome.

This is a plant that everyone should know.

Its RICE. Oryza sativa 'Black Madras'

Nice purple

Here's a cute little blue grass with awesome flower spikes: Blue Fescue Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'

This might be the cutest one.

Finally, for a nice, mid-sized purple: Purple fountain grass Pennisetum setaceum 'Fireworks'

Texture

I'm getting tired, so I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking.

Prairie drop-seed (a kind of new lawn grass alternative, only needs to be weed whipped a few times a year)