Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Perennial grasses
Perennial grasses are one of my favorite plants. We are fortunate to have so many natives as well as many cultivars of those native plants.
And then there are those grasses that might not be from around here but are hardy just the same! I’m thinking of Japanese Golden Forest grass aka Hakonechloa. I’ve planted this one but it’s not super pleased in it’s place just yet.
There are tall grasses, small grasses, green grasses, blue grasses! Grasses for the prairie, grasses for the shoreline, grasses for sun, grasses for part shade and then the grasses that make you just say WOW! Like ‘Red October’.
I’d hunt this one down!
Grasses are:
- Easy care
- Tolerant of drought conditions
- Provide soil erosion control
- Are a habitat for some pollinators
- Carry 3 season beauty
- And, as most of you know, I use the dried foliage as mulch in the vegetable garden!
Grasses add grace to the landscape, a whisper of wind tosses them to and fro. Did I mention they’re pest and disease resistant too? I KNOW, they’re fabulous! Grasses can be planted anytime during the season! Cut them back in Spring. Here is a link to popular varieties for Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.
I have two Big Bluestem ‘Black Hawks’ that I planted last year and I can’t wait for them to grow big and strong! They’re along the fence in the photo above.
