Bouteloua gracilis (Blue Grama) Ornamental Grass



Bouteloua gracilis (Blue grama) October, 2011

Bouteloua (boo-tuh-LOO-ah) gracilis (grah-SIL-is) or Blue grama grass is sometimes called Gramma's Eyebrows or Mosquito grass.  It's flowers are all concentrated to one side of the flowering stem and held at a horizontal angle like an eyebrow or tiny brush.  A mature plant or grouping can resemble a swarm of flying insects.  Blue grama has fine leaves & stems with blue-green seed heads that change to a purple/brown and bleach to a straw color and often curl up as they dry.  Unfortunately, I only have late season photos to show you.  It's small size of 8 - 15 inches (20 - 38 cm.) in full flower makes it among the shortest of the native ornamental grasses.  This warm season grass is easily grown in a wide range of soils in Full Sun as long as they are well-drained.  Hardy to Zone 3, Blue grama is an excellent choice for rock gardens, naturalised areas, native plant gardens, and unmowed meadows especially where drought tolerant plants are needed.

Bouteloua gracilis at the Denver Botanic Gardens in October, 2011

Blue grama at the Denver Botanic Gardens in October of 2011

Blue grama at the Denver Botanic Gardens in October, 2011

Blue grama can be used for a no-mow ground cover and is often mixed with Buffalo grass and/or wildflowers and mowed occasionally to 2 - 4 in. (5 - 10 cm.) for a lawn.  You might not want to mow and miss out on the showy flowers.  Uncut meadows of blue grama are stunning backlit with the rising and setting of the sun!  It attracts Birds & Butterflies and is a Larval Host for Skippers.  It's seeds are eaten by granivorous birds.  We have blue grama in our meadow at Lovegrass Farm.  It was very common in the wild in the high desert area we visited in Colorado.  We found it to be much shorter in the wild and as can be seen in the above photo it is great to control erosion on slopes.

Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' at Denver Botanic Gardens

There are different seed strains available of Blue grama.  'Blonde Ambition' is a 2011 Plant Select Winner discovered by David Salmon; Chief Horticulturalist of High Country Gardens.  It is much taller than the common wild plant (2 1/2 to 3 ft.) (75 - 90 cm.). 

Sterile Cultivars??



Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue', Aug. 12, 2011 at Lovegrass Farm

I have read that 'Elijah Blue' is a Sterile Cultivar of Festuca glauca.  Have Fellow Gardeners found this to be True Or Not?  We've never noticed it to seed out for us but we've had gardeners lamenting that their blue fescues seed out.  I have a photo taken at the Botanic Gardens in Denver last Fall where you can visibly see the fescue seeding out but I'm not sure of the variety.  Wish I had taken notes, but like a kid in a candy store I was overwhelmed by So Much to See in a few hours!  We've never had a lot of seedheads on our fescue plants.  I've also read that the color looks more vibrant with the seedheads removed.  That makes sense for the plants' energy would be used for continued growth instead of making seed but I happen to like the look of the seedheads.   Our Native variety of Deschampsia cespitosa definitely does seed out but I've never noticed that happening with the cultivar; Deschampsia 'Bronzeschleier'.  All it takes is a little hoeing out to get rid of any of these unwanted seedlings so I personally do not consider it a problem.  Curious to know what other gardeners' experience has been!


'Elijah Blue' July 5, 2011 at Lovegrass Farm

The same plants Aug. 22, 2011

Festuca glauca at Denver Botanic Gardens in Oct., 2011

 

Giving Blue Oat a Haircut

Winter die back on Blue oat grass, 2011

Blue Oat Grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens) is semi evergreen in our climate.  It depends on the winter we have how it's going to look come Spring.  Some years we only have to run our fingers through the plant  to remove dead leaves.  Other years (2011 being one of them)  there was much more die back and we had to trim them back severely.  We had a reasonably mild winter and lots of snow cover last year.  It's hard to say why there was so much damage.  These photos will show you that they will still regrow and look fabulous again before you know it, so don't despair!

Blue Oat after its Haircut April 23, 2011

By May 3, 2011 It's starting to grow out

By May 16 It's filling out nicely

By June 1 you'd never know it had a haircut

It's June 24 and it's looking spectacular!

It's July 18, 2011 (the same plants)

This proves that you're not going to hurt the plant by trimming back severely, you may even encourage it to thicken up!

Down By The Seashore

The North Shore of P.E.I. in August, 2011

Our shorelines are filled with So Many Beautiful Native Plants.  It's Amazing that so many plants will grow and thrive in such harsh conditions.  Native plants literally hold the sand together with their roots, preventing erosion and the ultimate moving of the dunes.  These photos were taken in late August of 2011 on our North Shore in P.E.I.

Artemisia stelleriana (Dusty Miller)

Wild bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica)

I've learned that salt can be extremely beneficial to certain types of plants and shrubs that thrive in the sand.  Salt spray can act as an anti fungal and is even known to deter bugs.  Beach plants have clever ways to get rid of salt.  A native P.E.I. grass; Spartina alterniflora (Salt water cord grass), is adapted to live in salt water.  Excess salts are removed from the plant by epidermal salt glands.
Wild bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) is an excellent green shrub for the shore.  Its shiny green leaves last well into late fall when it is full of grey scented berries loved by birds and also used for bayberry candles.  It thrives in the sand with no maintenance for its root nodules contain nitrogen-fixing microorganisms which allow it to grow in poor soils.


Sea Lavender (Limonium carolinianum) is a perennial, salt-marsh plant that grows 1 - 2 ft (30 - 60 cm.) high and has abundant, small, pale purple flowers on branching clusters.  Sea lavender blooms create the appearance of a delicate purple mist on the salt marsh during the late summer.  We often collect sea lavender to dry, made my first wreath with it last fall.  It is sort of a rite of summer like berry picking.

Seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) is a native perennial that is well adapted to the landward side of fronting dunes, low secondary dunes, and edges of salt marshes.  The fleshy, waxy leaves growing abundantly along the entire length of the stem help retain moisture that would otherwise be lost to the drying effect of salt spray.  Its bright yellow flowers are larger than those of the typical goldenrod and provide a great show in late summer and early fall.  We have them growing wild in our field as well.  I guess that tells you how sandy our soil is!  They make a lovely cut flower!

Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens)

A windy day at the shore

Sporobolus heterolepsis (Prairie dropseed) at Lovegrass Farm



Sporobolus heterolepsis (Prairie dropseed) Sept. 2, 2011

Sporobolus (spor-AH-bol-us) heterolepsis (het-er-oh-LEP-is) or Prairie dropseed is a warm season grass that is refined enough to fit into formal gardens and is also a natural choice for prairie and meadow gardens.  It's very fine arching leaves; to 20" (50 cm.) turn from summer green to gold/orange in the fall.  Tall, wispy inflorescence's 30" (75 cm.) high rise up thickly over the tufts, with fine panicles of tiny flowers and seeds.  The flowers produce nectar for bees, butterflies & hummingbirds.  The seed bracts are white when ripe and the flower stems turn the same orange color as the leaves in the fall.

Prairie dropseed July 5, 2011 (showing fine foliage)

Prairie dropseed July 18, 2011 (moves in the breeze)

Prairie dropseed Early Aug, 2010, Rooftop garden at Boothbay Botanical Gardens in Maine

Prairie dropseed prefers dry sandy soil but does great on a wide range of soil types.  It is deep rooted and extremely drought tolerant once established which makes it very effective for erosion control on a slope and it is now being used in roof top gardens.

Aug. 5, 2011 (starting to flower)

Aug. 25, 2011 (at sunset)

It is a slow grower that takes about 4 years to reach blooming size from seed but will grow without care for decades without any centre die back or need for renewal and is hardy to Zone 3.  Prairie dropseed likes full sun or light shade and makes a well-defined and distinctive border when planted 18 - 24" (45 - 60 cm) apart.  It's hairlike foliage is ideal for softening edges of sidewalks and patios.  It does not freely self-seed in the garden.  Prairie dropseed is on the threatened and endangered species list in Saskatchewan, Canada and in some of the United States.

Oct. 2, 2011 (fall stem color is starting to show)

Oct. 19, 2011 (changing color)

Prairie dropseed rivals Little Bluestem in mass plantings.  Inter plant with spring bulbs so you have a show before the grasses grow and inter plant narrow leaved echinaceas, liatris & sedum "Matrona' for a later show.  They also have an added bonus of a unique fragrance that has been compared to coriander or popcorn.  I found that it was especially noticeable when the air was calm.  The edible seed head is an attraction to birds.  Plains Indians ground the seed to make a tasty flour.

I can't say enough about this low-maintenance plant!  Sunrise and sunset; especially with dew or frost made it look Spectacular!  I truly enjoyed watching it change through the seasons!

Fall Photos of Our Ornamental Grasses at Lovegrass Farm

The Fall is the Prettiest Time for Ornamental Grasses.  It's also our Favorite Season of the Year! We've been cleaning up in the Garden and Planning for next year.  We've had quite a few visitors that have come to see the Grasses in their Fall Splendor & make Wish Lists for next Year!  It's been Great to see Folks from Nova Scotia & New Brunswick, as well as our Native P.E.I.!!   We enjoy sharing what we've learned about growing and caring for Ornamental Grasses & meeting people that Love Grasses as much as we do! 

Eragrostis spectabilis (Purple Love Grass)

Sporobolus heterolepis (Prairie Dropseed)

Seslaria autumnalis

Andropogon gerardii (Big Bluestem)

Eragrostis trichodes (Sand Lovegrass)

Sorghastrum nutans (Indian Grass)



Carex buchananii 'Red Rooster'



Seslaria heufleriana

Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'

Morning Dew on Our Ornamental Grass at Lovegrass Farm in P.E.I.



Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'

These photos were taken last Friday morning (September 2, 2011) at Lovegrass Farm.  The heavy dews of late Summer make for some pretty sights in the Early Morning Garden!


Panicum virgatum 'Native' & 'Heavy Metal'

Deschampsia cespitosa 'Bronzeschleier'

Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'

Sporobolus heterolepsis (northern dropseed)

Miscanthus Giganteus with Deschampsia & Blue Oat Grass in front

Seslaria autumnalis

Helictotrichon sempervirens (Blue oat grass)