Blog: another sale bargain to add contemporary notes to containers
January is a great time for bargains, and this comprehensive collection is ideal for using grasses in pots and elsewhere around the garden. If you think grasses are boring, you couldn’t be more wrong. Evergreen varieties provide year-round interest, and all types look wonderful contrasted with herbaceous perennials in prairie-style planting. Underplant deciduous grasses with dwarf spring bulbs, such as daffodil Tete a Tete or crocus.
For my purposes, their movement, blades and flower heads contrast beautifully with tropical, large-leaved plants, such as canna and Colocasia. Using grasses in pots is important if your garden has heavy clay soil, like mine. Many don’t like cold, wet soil in winter that doesn’t warm up quickly. They prefer well-drained soil, so add some gravel when planting.
Buying collections like this is a good idea if you plan to divide them. This one has ten different varieties with one plant each. Remembering the golden planting rule of planting with odd numbers, this is fine if you get Stipa gigantea (golden oat grass), as it is an impressive solo feature plant. However, if you end up with all the small ones, planting in a border will lead to a bitty, mismatched effect. You need at least three, probably five plants for varieties like Festuca Elijah Blue to make an impact.
However, small solo plants have their part to play in large container arrangements. You need plants that contrast in colour, texture, flower, height and leaf shape, so a well-chosen ornamental grass can be a vital component. For more about grasses, see my main How to grow page. Some of the varieties available are:
Carex dipsacea Dark Horse (bronze sedge)
Dense, clump-forming sedge, with hair-like foliage in deep-bronze and olive-green, tinted pink and becoming darker, flushed deep bronze-red, in winter. Black flower spikes during summer. Hardy. Full sun/partial shade. Evergreen. Height 75cm x spread 50cm.
Carex morrowii Variegata (Japanese sedge)
Low mound-forming sedge. Arching, glossy leaves have a green central stripe bordered by a creamy margin, which takes on an orange glow when temperatures drop. In mid to late spring, it bears inconspicuous brown flower spikes on long stems. Hardy. Full sun/partial shade. Semi-evergreen. Height 30cm x 45cm spread.
Using grasses in pots – Carex oshimensis Evergold (Japanese variegated sedge)
Low hummocks of dark green leaves with a central strip of creamy yellow. In mid to late spring, it bears brown flower spikes on long stems. Evergreen. Hardy. Full sun/partial shade. Height 30cm x spread 35cm.
Elymus magellanicus (blue wheat grass, Magellan rye grass)
Tufted grass forms a dense clump of vivid blue, almost metallic linear leaves, with small flower spikes in summer. Needs grooming in spring to set off the fresh young growth. Hardy. Deciduous. Full sun. Height 50cm x spread 30cm.
Using grasses in pots – Festuca glauca Elijah Blue (blue fescue grass)
A compact grass, with silvery blue-green leaves and short spikes of blue-green midsummer flowers, fading to buff. Hardy. Full sun. Evergreen. Height 30cm x spread 25cm.
Helictotrichon sempervirens ( blue oat grass)
Tightly rolled, blue-grey leaves form a neat mound. Upright golden spikelets in summer. Prone to rust if it gets too wet. Hardy. Full sun/partial shade. Height 1.4m x 60cm.
Using grasses in pots – Imperata cylindrica Rubra Red Baron (Japanese blood grass)
Blood-red spikes fade to bright green at the base and become translucent with age. Best in late summer. Full sun/partial shade. Deciduous. Hardy but may need protection in cold areas. Height 40cm x spread 30cm.
Juncus effusus Spirilis (corkscrew rush)
Curly, corkscrew-like, dark green, leafless stems and insignificant brown flowers in summer. Ideal for pond margins or permanently moist acid soil. Stems get fuller and more tangled with time. Hardy. Full sun or partial shade. Evergreen. Height 60cm x spread 50cm.
Using grasses in pots – Luzula sylvatica Aurea (great golden woodrush)
Vigorous plants form a loose clump. Narrow, glossy leaves are bright greenish-yellow in winter and spring, later becoming greener. Tiny brown flowers are borne in late spring and early summer. Hardy. Full shade/partial shade. Evergreen. Height 1m x 50cm.
Miscanthus sinensis Morning Light (silver grass)
Elegant, slender green blades with narrow cream margins which arch gently at their tips. In warm summers, reddish-brown flowers open in October and endure through the winter. Hardy. Full sun. Deciduous. Height 1.2m x spread 1.2m.
Miscanthus sinensis Zebrinus (zebra grass)
A fountain-like grass with horizontal cream bands on the leaves. Older plants in warmer conditions produce silky, finger-like flower spikes in late summer, which persist during winter. Hardy. Full sun. Deciduous. Height 1.2m x spread 45cm.
Ophiopogon planiscapus Nigrescens (black lilyturf)
Strappy, almost black leaves. In summer, small spikes of pale mauve flowers appear, followed by spherical, dark blue fruit. Hardy. Full sun/partial shade. Evergreen. Height 20cm x spread 30cm.
Using grasses in pots – Pennisetum alopecuroides Hameln (fountain grass)
Compact, low mound with long-lasting, pinkish, brush-like flowers in late summer. The bright green leaves turn yellow in autumn and then brown in winter. Full sun. Hardy. Semi-evergreen. Height 1.2m x spread 1m.
Pennisetum purpureum (purple fountain grass, elephant grass, Uganda grass)
A clumping grass native to tropical Africa. Many uses, from biofuel to animal fodder. Tender. Full sun. Height 4m x spread 1m.
Stipa gigantea (golden oat grass)
Arching stems of golden, oat-like flowerheads carried above clumps of slender, grey-green leaves. Perfect for introducing movement. Hardy. Full sun. Semi-evergreen. Height 2.5m x spread 1.2m.
Using grasses in pots – Stipa tenuifolia (S. tenuissima, pheasant grass, angel hair, pony tails)
Wispy, pale yellow-green leaves topped with plumes of silver-green flowers, maturing to buff. Fluffy flower heads and foliage billow in the slightest breeze. Hardy. Semi-evergreen. Full sun. Height 60cm x spread 30cm.
