Graceful flowing and cascading perennials, Ornamental Grasses are must-haves for the garden and there’s a Grass for any sized garden and any soil type! They add sound and motion, creating white noise that helps block unwanted sound while screening off undesirable sights and prying eyes!
Drought and deer-resistant, heat and chill-tolerant, hard-to-kill Grasses are incredibly adaptable and versatile backbones of the landscape!
Top 7 Most Popular Grass Types
Fountain Grass (Pennisetum)
Graceful fountains of fine-textured grassy blades, aptly named Fountain Grasses are colorful grasses that offer beautiful form and motion as they wave in the slightest breeze! These warm season Grasses can handle the heat. Some great examples include:
- Purple Fountain Grass - Hot climate ornamental & cold climate annual accent
- Graceful Grasses® Fireworks Pennisetum - Colorful hot growing zone specimens
- Dwarf Fountain Grass - Space-saving lovely bunches
- Little Bunny - Cute fluffy bunny tails & pint size
Miscanthus Grass is another arching, graceful, and finely-textured grass with many size options available. The fluffy tasseled plumes in the late summer and fall add interest and these warm-season grass is cold-resistant and heat-tolerant. These Perennial Grass often have incredible fall color, in fact. It’s so gorgeous it’s earned the name Flame Grass because of the flame red color in fall.
- Huron Sunrise Maiden Grass - Reddish silky tassels
- Maiden Grass - Soft green and shiny foliage
- Morning Light Miscanthus - Silvery sheen & slender bi-color leaves
- Little Miss Maiden Grass - Dwarf size!
Also called Switchgrass, Panicum Grasses are elegant more upright Perennial grasses that handle snow load and coastal gardens, Switchgrasses handle some drought, but also are fantastic in occasional wet soils and work great in Rain Gardens and along stream banks. These warm-season fast-growing Grasses have it all!
- Heavy Metal Switch Grass - Metallic green and purple coloration and airy texture
- Northwind Switchgrass - Very cold hardy warm-season grass
- Dallas Blues Switch Grass - Highly adaptable blue-green ornamental
- Shenandoah Switchgrass - Pinkish seed heads and vibrant red/burgundy fall color
Vertical fine-textured and summer blooms, cold-hardy Calamagrostis have a wide variety of sizes and color options for you! As adaptable in clay, wet conditions, and drought, Feather Reed Grasses can also handle snow.
- Karl Foerster Feather Reed - Upright architectural grasses with tan seedheads
- Lightning Strike® Feather Reed Grass - Dramatic, white & green two-tone leaves
- Overdam Feather Reed - White blades with a green center stripe
- Avalanche Feather Reed - Pinkish purple plumes, autumn color, and bi-color foliage
Both Little and Big Bluestems are gorgeous varieties of the native Prairie Grasses, well-known for their tolerance, endurance, adaptability, and versatility! Colorful spring and summer foliage, Andropogon are vertical fountain textured grasses that are incredibly cold-hardy! Showing off the family blueish to purple fall color.
- Blackhawks Big Bluestem - Dark purple metallic color and purple tasseled seed heads
- Little Bluestem Grass - Space-saving little native with incredible adaptability
- The Blues Little Bluestem - Showy blue-green foliage and coppery orange fall color
- Red October Andropogon - Blue-green foliage and red fall color
Moisture-loving Sedges are not true Grasses but warm-season Carex have arching graceful blades of foliage that are vividly colored! These smaller-sized grasses even handle more shade than other grassy perennials! Great for erosion and en masse plantings, plus are fantastic for wildlife and birds!
- Cappuccino Sedge - Coffee-colored blades in the fall for warm climates
- Palm Sedge - A cold-hardy whirled bright green perennial
- Evercolor® Everillo Carex - Bright golden green arching leaves!
- Blue Zinger Sedge - Blue-green foliage and lively foliage
Rushes
Similar to Sedges, Rushes are also moisture-loving perennial grasses. However, Juncus have unique round leaves instead of flat. Featuring spikey and upright growth, these water garden plants are highly tolerant of heat and chill and have space-saving showy options. Best in hot climates, but also work great as annual accents.
- Corkscrew Rush Spiralis - Unique curly spiraled green round leaves that resemble stems
- Elk Blue California Gray Rush - Vertical round foliage and yellow seedheads
- Blue Arrows Rush - Striking blue-green evergreen foliage
- Soft Rush - Evergreen to perennial cold-hardy native with lush green foliage
So Many Grasses To Choose From!
With versatility and diversity, the gorgeous forms and functions of perennial Ornamental Grasses will lend a flowing, magical effect to the garden!
So incredibly easy to grow and very low-maintenance, check out all the information on Ornamental grasses in our #ProPlantTips for care! Learn all you need about Grass maintenance, and Planting techniques so you can enjoy these gorgeous foliage plants their entire long life!
Order these incredible plants for your landscapes today from Nature Hills!
