Bayscape Blog 9/6/10
By Judy DeFiglio
Ornamental Grasses
September is here. Most residents of the Jersey Shore think this is the best month of all. Bright sunny days and crisp, cool evenings make it perfect weather to be outdoors. Gardeners love September too. It is a great time to enjoy the late summer garden and anticipate the fall splendor heading our way.
If you made the right choice and planted some native ornamental grasses this year, sit back and enjoy. These wonderful, drought- tolerant, heat loving grasses thrived all through the raging heat of summer and now are putting on quite a show with their colorful, interesting seed heads. No fertilizing is required which is good for your pocketbook and extra good for our waterways, suffering from nitrogen overload. The only maintenance needed is to cut them back in late winter. What could be easier?
Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem) is one of the shorter native grasses, growing two to three feet tall, with great fall color. A good choice for a larger space is one of the Panicums (Switchgrass). Panicum virgatum grows three to five feet tall with blue-green foliage that turns yellow or burgundy in the fall depending on the variety. ‘Heavy Metal’ flowers have a pinkish hue while ‘Shenandoah’ flowers are burgundy-red.
Seed heads last all winter long, providing winter interest when most other plants are gone. In case we have another winter like last year, these grasses look great poking through the snow.
By Judy DeFiglio
Ornamental Grasses
September is here. Most residents of the Jersey Shore think this is the best month of all. Bright sunny days and crisp, cool evenings make it perfect weather to be outdoors. Gardeners love September too. It is a great time to enjoy the late summer garden and anticipate the fall splendor heading our way.
If you made the right choice and planted some native ornamental grasses this year, sit back and enjoy. These wonderful, drought- tolerant, heat loving grasses thrived all through the raging heat of summer and now are putting on quite a show with their colorful, interesting seed heads. No fertilizing is required which is good for your pocketbook and extra good for our waterways, suffering from nitrogen overload. The only maintenance needed is to cut them back in late winter. What could be easier?
Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem) is one of the shorter native grasses, growing two to three feet tall, with great fall color. A good choice for a larger space is one of the Panicums (Switchgrass). Panicum virgatum grows three to five feet tall with blue-green foliage that turns yellow or burgundy in the fall depending on the variety. ‘Heavy Metal’ flowers have a pinkish hue while ‘Shenandoah’ flowers are burgundy-red.
Seed heads last all winter long, providing winter interest when most other plants are gone. In case we have another winter like last year, these grasses look great poking through the snow.
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