Ornamental Grasses in Nurseries
- Ornamental grass is a signature of architectural landscape designs.ornamental grass image by Richard Seeney from Fotolia.com
Northeast Nursery asserts that ornamental grasses are a popular form of lawn and nursery garnishment. The grasses are divided into two categories, those that grow during warm seasons, or the summer and fall, and those that flourish in cold weather, during the early spring and later winter. A number of species of ornamental grasses are native to the United States. According to ornamental grass specialists Blue Stem Nursery, these plants are easy to care for, hardy, and long lasting. - Achnatherum hymenoides is an ornamental grass native to western North American, from the United States to Canada. Also known as Indian Ricegrass, Achnatherum hymenoides has narrow green foliage that reaches heights of two feet, and flowers of up to six inches long that bloom in the early spring. Canada's Blue Stem nursery, which specializes in ornamental grass, recommends Indian Ricegrass as an edging plant for property lines, though cautions that it is a slow-growing plant. The seeds of Achnatherum hymenoides are edible.
- Molinia litoralis, also known as windspiel, is a large ornamental grass. According to the Digging Dog Nursery, which houses the grass, a single Molinia litoralis plant grows from six to seven feet tall and up to five feet wide. The ends of windspiel's long blades sport straw-colored panicles. A panicle is a pyramid-shaped cluster of flowers. The ornamental grass' body is a series of thick green tufts of foliage. The Digging Dog Nursery asserts that landscape architect Wolfgang Oehme used Monlinia litoralis in over one million designs.
- Helictotrichon sempervirens is a small ornamental grass that grows between 18 and 24 inches tall, and 20 to 24 inches wide. Commonly known as blue oat grass, Helictotrichon sempervirens flourishes in well-drained soil of moderate to dry moisture. Blue oat grass grows quickly when fully exposed to the sun, and sports bold metallic blue foliage. According to Nature Hills Nursery, which grows the ornamental grass, Helictotrichon sempervirens blooms flowers that resemble one-sided oat panicles each June. Blue oat grass grows well in rock gardens.
- Purple love grass, known scientifically as Eragrostis spectablis, is an ornamental grass native to the United States that is commonly grown in nurseries. Eragrostis spectablis has a mature height of up to two feet, and a mature spread, or width, of two to three feet. Purple love grass, whose scientific name is a combination of the Greek words eros (love) and grostis (grass), grows well under the sun in well-drained and dry soil. The plant's bronze-red flowers bloom in the summer and stay through the fall.
