Home › G › Grasses, Ornamental

Grasses, Ornamental

Numerous annual species of Grasses are cultivated, for the double purpose of rendering mixed flower or shrubbery borders attractive in summer, and for the use of the spikes or panicles, in a dried state, intermixed with everlasting flowers, or arranged separately in vases by themselves, in winter. A few perennial species are equally attractive for similar purposes, notably Arundo conspicua, Gynerium argenteum (Pampas Grass), and Stipa pennata (Feather Grass). The annuals may be sown in any soil outside, in March or April; and if the spikes are intended for drying, they should be gathered on fine days before the seeds ripen, and gradually dried in a cool place. A selection of the best and most ornamental would include Agrostis elegans, nebulosa, and pulchella, Briza maxima and minor, Bromus brizaeformis, Eragrostis elegans, Hordeum jubatum, and Lagurus ovatus. It is advisable to treat many of the annual species as biennials; that is to say, sow the seeds in July or August. This is too late to allow the plants to flower the same year, but they make finer clumps, and produce larger spikes, the following season.