There are many ornamental grasses that can be grown in Northern Michigan. In this blog, I would just like to mention a select few. One of the shortest grasses is Blue Fescue Grass (Festuca glauca). Elijah Blue is an improved cultivar with a powder blue color and a very fine leaf texture. It grows as a rounded clump 8-10 inches tall. It keeps this color all year. Blue Oat Grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens ‘Sapphire’) has fine steel blue leaves that tend to widen as they mature. Small tan seed heads appear on tall stems. They are nice in small gardens, rock gardens and containers. It grows 18-24 inches.
Little Bunny (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Little Bunny’) is a miniature fountain grass clump that grows only 12-16 inches tall and begins to turn red during the summer months. It has small bottle brush seed heads that appear during the summer. Hamelin (Pennisetum alopecuroildes’ Hamelin) is a dwarf fountain grass that grows 2-3 feet tall and has bottle brush seed heads that are larger than seed heads of Little Bunny. This size combines well with shrubs in a foundation planting or in borders, and is therefore a very useful grass. Fountain Grass grows similar to Hamelin, but larger- 3-4 foot.
Carl Forster Reed Sedge Grass (Calamagrostis acutifolia) is probably the most popular of the Reed Sedge Grasses. It produces wheat like seed heads late in spring; therefore its plumes are showy all season long. It grows to a dense clump around 5 feet tall.
Morning Lights Grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is a very attractive, fine textured grass with a silvery-green cast. It grows upright around 4 feet tall with arching leaves. Bronze red plumes turn to a cream color with age. Porcupine Grass (Miscanthus sinensis stricta) is a variegated (green leaves with distinct golden bands) spiky grass that grows 4-6 feet tall, and Zebra Grass (Miscanthus sinesis Zebra) has similar variegation, but grows more in a ball and arching shape than Porcupine Grass and does not grow as tall.
Graziella Maiden Grass (Miscanthus s. Grazeilla) is a good selection of Maiden Grass that has fine green foliage with very attractive blooms in early fall that makes it an excellent selection for Northern growers.
Little Bunny (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Little Bunny’) is a miniature fountain grass clump that grows only 12-16 inches tall and begins to turn red during the summer months. It has small bottle brush seed heads that appear during the summer. Hamelin (Pennisetum alopecuroildes’ Hamelin) is a dwarf fountain grass that grows 2-3 feet tall and has bottle brush seed heads that are larger than seed heads of Little Bunny. This size combines well with shrubs in a foundation planting or in borders, and is therefore a very useful grass. Fountain Grass grows similar to Hamelin, but larger- 3-4 foot.
Carl Forster Reed Sedge Grass (Calamagrostis acutifolia) is probably the most popular of the Reed Sedge Grasses. It produces wheat like seed heads late in spring; therefore its plumes are showy all season long. It grows to a dense clump around 5 feet tall.
Morning Lights Grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is a very attractive, fine textured grass with a silvery-green cast. It grows upright around 4 feet tall with arching leaves. Bronze red plumes turn to a cream color with age. Porcupine Grass (Miscanthus sinensis stricta) is a variegated (green leaves with distinct golden bands) spiky grass that grows 4-6 feet tall, and Zebra Grass (Miscanthus sinesis Zebra) has similar variegation, but grows more in a ball and arching shape than Porcupine Grass and does not grow as tall.
Graziella Maiden Grass (Miscanthus s. Grazeilla) is a good selection of Maiden Grass that has fine green foliage with very attractive blooms in early fall that makes it an excellent selection for Northern growers.
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