Stipa Arundinacea Anemanthele Lessonniana
Stipa Arundinacea This evergreen ornamental grass is referred to as being frost hardy, an indication that it may not survive in the North East of Scotland.
Well think again, here is Stipa Arundinacea above in our Aberdeen garden in early Summer after coming through the Winter unscathed. I have to say the Winter had been a lot milder than the previous two very severe ones.
The arching effect is very attractive and I will be very disappointed if it gives up the ghost in this coming Winter.
Stipa Arundinacea is also known as the Pheasants tail grass, reason for this may be apparent in my other pictures. The label on the plants which we purchased named it as Stipa Arundnacea, however it seems that this ornamental grass also goes under the name, Anemanthele Lessonniana, so take your pick.
In Spring and Summer the arching leaves are a dark green and small insignificant flowers of a purple shade are produced in August. We planted these grasses in a West facing border. The two pictures below give a good example of the growth, first photo taken in July, the second in August, see how the growth has competely hidden the water feature in a four week period.
By the time early Autumn arrives the flowering stems and seed heads have turned orangey brown completely hiding the green foliage which still persists under this frothy mass.
October arrived and the grasses had completely hidden two Flower Carpet Roses which we had planted in the Spring.
Hardiness – Frost hardy
Position – Full sun/partial shade
Soil – Medium to light, must be free draining
*** Stipa arundinacea ***
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I will take this opportunity to highlight some other grasses in our garden, some planted directly in the borders and some in tubs.
Carex Elata Bowles Golden Aurea
This Carex has been in an East facing border for a number of years and has a similar habit to the Stipa above which I highlighted.
The golden foliage is edged in a dark shade of green which is only noticeable when viewed up close. Carex is a Sedge rather than a grass and Elata looks best of all in a semi shaded position or even heavy shade for that matter, where it can light up an otherwise dull border. Bulks up nicely with an arching habit reaching a height of about 80cm.
This Carex is fully hardy and at the end of Winter cut it hard back before the new shoots start to appear.
As you can see below in the East facing border we have this Carex planted in a similar manner to that of the Stipa which is in the West.
— Mail Order —
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Blue Fescue Grass
Blue Fescue is said to be fully hardy and any problem I had with it in the past I think is down to having planted it in a position that was not free draining. For several years now I have had this one in a pot where it seems to thrive. This past Autumn I decided to divide it after being in the same container for five years, I now have four plants. There is a suggestion that when planted directly in the ground it gets tatty looking after three years or so.
Blue Fescue responds well to being cut back hard in late Winter. The fine blue fronds show up best in the earlier part of the year and colour is best of all when kept on the dry side and in full sun.
— Mail Order —
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Uncinia Rubra
This one also known as the (Red Hook Sedge) is a newcomer in our garden and I have chosen also to grow this one in a pot. Well I think it is more of a necessity rather than choosing as it isn’t fully hardy, will stand temp down to -5c. Uncinia Rubra has amazing shiny red foliage which is at its very brightest in late Spring/early Summer, not that it ever gets dowdy.
We have two of these evergreen New Zealand grasses, or should I say Sedge planted in terracotta pots, one of them flowered in early September, dark brown unattractive flowers letting me know that this plant is all about the foliage. I placed them both in the unheated greenhouse in early November and am pretty confident that this will give enough Winter protection.
Hardiness – Frost hardy down to -5c
Position – Prefers full sun
Height – 30cm/12″
— Mail Order —
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A crisp sunny November morning felt just right for a visit to Hazlehead Park. The park is situated just on the outskirts of the city. Covering an area of over 180 hectares granted to the city under part of the freedom lands in 1319. The land at a later date did fall into private ownership and it wasn’t until 1920 that the city council bought it back.
The road to the park is accessed just off one of the wealthiest areas of the city. There are two roads leading to the park divided by a dry stane dyke. One of the roads was specifically for the use of tramcars or trolley cars, the tramcars were still in use up to the late 1950s. The other road running parallel was for buses and cars, not that working class folk like us had cars in the 1950s.
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This is the road just opposite the park gates looking good on a late Autumn day.
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Lets go through the gate.
When we were kids in the 1950s we would tell others how it had taken two hours to get ourselves back out of the maze. A visit with my six year old grandson a couple of years ago was a little different when to his disgust I told him we would sneak out through a gap in the hedging.
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Within the park there is two large Rose Gardens. Within these gardens is a memorial to the men, many of whom were local who died in the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster of 6th July 1988
If you happen to leave a comment I will be sure to visit your site and do the same
© 2012 – 2015, Alistair. All rights reserved.
Your garden is still looking healthy and green, i guess they haven’t been affected yet by the cold. It is amazing that in temperate countries, grasses are really planted in gardens, which we don’t do in the tropics. If that is done here, every area will be growing weeds in the next season after the rains!
Andrea, very often the photos in my posts which are generally all to do with plant profiles do not always reflect how they are at the moment. These ones posted today are as I said from July and August of this year. The pictures in the park are from this month.
Hi Alistair… what great contrasts between the freedom of your grasses and the formality of your hedge! I certainly do appreciate the dry stane dyke work as well… thanks, by the way for that name which I now freely apply to my own stonework. I love the lichens and moss on the old stones in your park presentation. I think I shall try to speed the growth of moss this spring as it does grow on several of the field stones I used in my wall… I’m told that mixing it up with some buttermilk in a blender and painting the mixture on the stones often does the trick. Hoping you and your family are all well… my best to you, Larry
Larry, I did think of you whilst I was adding my pictures with the dry stane dyke. Yoghurt is also said to be very good for speeding up the growth of moss.
I always enjoy seeing photos of your garden – you have such an interesting variety of plants, and obviously a keen eye for design. I love your water feature, and the twisted rope edging that you have on those borders (which doesn’t seem to exist here in Canada). Also nice to see the sunny November pictures of Hazlehead park. During the summer holidays, when I was old enough to take the bus on my own, my Mum would pack a picnic for 2 or 3 of my chums and let us take two buses down to Mannofield and then up Springfield Road to spend the afternoon in the park. I think the sandwiches were usually gone before we were even off the bus!
Thanks Donald, well familiar with the picnicking thing.
Thanks for the info on your monocots. And the great tour of you park, which I found to be quite interesting.
Bravo!
Greggo, you got me there, now which do you prefer, monocots or dicots
I like the plants profiled. I do have a question on the park. Why is the ground surface paved in such a way in the 14th photo down. It is interesting and pretty in design, but a tripping hazard. Am I missing something?
I see what you mean Donna, there is a proper path where I was standing taking the picture. Looking at it now, it seems pretty pointless.
Loved seeing your grasses. I need some for my garden, and I really liked several of these you highlighted. I also loved the pictures of Hazelhead Park. So pretty with all the trees in color. The rose garden is also pretty, even with no roses in bloom. But I would be most excited about the maze! They have always been fascinating to me, and I would be disappointed, too, if I had to take a shortcut through the hedge!
Yes Holley, taking a short cut is just cheating, I hang my head.
thanks for the grass info Alistair especially the Carex Elata Bowles Golden Aurea I might try it in my east facing bed or even north facing front garden.
the park looks lovely and thanks for showing the Piper Alpha Memorial, I remember it well, such a terrible tragedy, Frances
Frances, I like the Golden Aurea, its all about foliage although the flower stems look quite good for a short time early in the season, didn’t have a picture. Piper Alpha was a terrible tragedy.
Alistair I love grasses but know so little. Several of these are not hardy for me but wonderful as annuals. But oh my they look splendid in your gorgeous garden. I do love when you take us on walks about your lovely area…what an amazing park…I only wish we had these lovely places here…we do need more of them.
Donna, one of the other parks which is very close to our house (Duthie Park) is undergoing a massive makeover which is said will bring it back to its former glory of the 19th century. I will look forward to highlighting this one.
I read your post on my iPad and the photos of the park are absolutely gorgeous. I love the way your garden is stuffed to abundance. It is just the kind of look I like. I didn’t understand some of your comment on my recent post—the part about shirts and 65000.
Thanks Carolyn for your kind comment. I have sent an explanation regarding my daft riddles.
Hi Alistair, Thanks for taking us on a fall stroll through Hazlehead Park. How wise your city council was to buy it back from the private owners. I bet the rose gardens must be beautiful in the summer.
You have highlighted some lovely grasses in this post. Every year I try to add a few more ornamental grasses. It is a bit off-topic, but I am wondering about the pink rose in the third image. Which of your roses is that? It looks beautiful and nicely compact.
Jennifer, the Rose is actually a deeper shade than my picture is showing, deep red with a hint of purple. Its a Portland Rose (Rose d’ Rescht) Flowers well every year with an amazing fragrance.
Hi Alisdair, what a great post, ornamental grasses and beautiful big trees decked out for Autumn, two of my favourite things. And thanks to I think I may have identified a grass I have discovered lurking under an enormous fuchsia in our front garden – and no wonder it is looking rather sad if it prefers full sun! I think I have Uncinia Rubra.
Janet, although a bit on the tender side I think your Uncinia may survive outdoors where you are. I would shift it to a sunnier spot in Spring.
Super pictures Alistair – you have profiled your plants really well. Just got into grasses myself last year – had mixed results with them and am not entirely sure I’m convinced by them. I will give them a chance though since this year has been rotten and I’ve been blaming lack of sunshine to make them look at their best!
Thoroughly enjoyed my walk around Hazelhead Park. I do love looking at trees in their Autumn Glory!
What a lovely place to have a memorial for those lost in the Piper Alpha Disaster.
Angie, I think it can take a bit of time and working out which is the best positions for ornamental grasses.
Gorgeous photos of the grasses and the park! I like how you have sited your stipa and cares in relationship to the other plants. I also like your use of grasses in pots. This is probably the only way I would put ornamental grasses in my garden, as I am so, so afraid they would become invasive here.
Debs, I can understand the problem with plants becoming invasive, catmint was suggesting the very same thing.
hi alastair, enjoyed the walk in the park with you and moira. I love stipas too but find it hard to find a place for them, they grow so large. Blue fescue i use a lot for bordering paths. The do get tatty after a while, but often last quite a few years OK. Then I divide them. I love carex for its habit, too, but they need water or else they just didn’t like my garden.
Catmint, I think some plants in our climate may be held in check a little, still plenty of stuff that runs riot though.
Stipa Arundinacea grass looks so much like my tropical climate – Lemon grass plant.
Guess there is always a beauty to admire even in the simple & common plant as grass.
Always seems to be similar alternatives James.
Until I read this post, I thought that Alberto was the only one who paid special attention grasses. They do add a fluffiness/airiness to your flowerbeds.
I guess everyone thinks their own local park is the best, but I have to admit yours is beautiful and well-cared for. It looks like you’ve given them some tips on how to care for their lawns.
b-a-g, I couldn’t hold a candle to Alberto as far as ornamental grasses are concerned. I guess I just like to highlight things about our city, soon run out of ideas though.
Hi Alistair
I enjoyed the pictures and descriptions of the grasses. A bit frustrating, isn’t it, when they grow even larger than expected and cover up lovely water features! Hilarious how your grandson disapproved of you “cheating” in order to get out of the maze quicker! Tsk tsk, Grandpa!!
Astrid, and now the water feature has been dismantled for the Winter just in case we get damaging severe frost which could cause cracking. My daughter also enjoyed the bit about my grandson who proudly told her how he remembered grandad doing this.
I bought a fescue on a whim last year and it’s been in a pot ever since because I haven’t known what to do with it. Perhaps I should just carry on keeping it in a pot!
Esther,they do well in pots, although it will be milder where you are and may look good in the ground.
I don’t know that it would look good in my ground. I can’t think of anyway I could not make it look like a lump of grass with oddly thin blades. It’s the kind of thing which needs the right plants around it to make it clear it’s meant to be there. If you planted it in the ground, what would you plant near it, do you reckon, to complement it?
Several planted at the front of a border would look good whether it was along with taller grasses behind or even a mixed border behind. I am pretty well into trial and error.
Hi Alistair
Excellent and educational post as always! I loved the park, and your thoughts about grasses. And yes Alberto inspires us all in that regard, but you are doing so well. Maybe I will write a post about my three. Grasses, that is. But now let me think–perhaps there are only two. Goodness I must get a few more. They really are pretty leaf contrast.
Linnie, Thanks for the kind comments. Whether or not you have many grasses in your garden, you dont half give us inspiration.
Hi Alistair! I never tried stipa arundinacea because many people told me it’s not very hardy but I guess the real issue is drainage, as usual. Your specimen are so huge and good looking that I’m thinking about giving a try! That uncinia is very pretty, mine died after the first frost, ages ago, I didn’t know it wasn’t hardy!
Normally I don’t cut back sedges nor fescues. I knew that festuca in particular doesn’t like being cut at all…
Alberto, I am now wondering if the protection of the greenhouse over Winter will be enough to give protection to the Uncinia.
Hello Alistair, thanks for another lovely, educational post which has given me yet another entry on my plant wish-list. I have now added Uncinia Rubra, I didn’t know this one from before, but think it will look great together with my 3 mature tufts of Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’. Since my garden is so sheltered I think it will probably survive the winter outside here, I will try with one and see how it goes. I guess it’s not a fast grower, like many grasses – how long have you had yours and how much have they grown? Do you remember what size pot you bought them as? Thanks again for another great tip for my garden 🙂
Helene, I have only had the Uncinia for the one season. I know that it wouldn’t survive the Winter outdoors here. I placed them in the Greenhouse a couple of weeks ago and they are still looking good. They were in 2ltr pots when I bought them, from B & Q would you believe.
Alistair such gorgeous pictures. How many weeks have I spent splitting grasses at the nursery in inverkeithing? I wondered if you’d ever grown or if you have imperata cyclindrica (blood grass) its a bit temperamental but lovely and probably best lifted each winter or in a pot with you. Just think it might be nice. Loved the park, nice to see your local walks. But, loon, I’m black affronted you’d sneak through a gap in the maze!
Fay, we have had the blood grass in the past, didn’t do well in the border, thanks for the reminder, I think I will give it a go in a pot. Ha, Ha, black affronted, one of my mothers favourites from times gone by.
Hello again. Sorry I am a bit late with this but I found Anemanthele lessonniana in the RHS magazine, several years ago, used as a recurring theme in a long border. I have been trying to find the actual article but to no avail. Being impressed I obtained seed and it is now part of the garden being totally wiped out in severe winters but seeding itself all over the place so that there is always a new set of seedlings every year. Planted in pots or a border, where the sun is behind it, the striking winter colour is superb.
Slàinte mhath
Rick, thanks for sharing your experience of this plant.
I’ve fallen in love with Stipa arundiancea over the past few years..it’s proven itself to be tough and beautiful. Right now, they are are rainbow of colors, so utterly lovely…and such graceful form.
Thanks for dropping by Scott. I am eagerly awaiting the end of Winter to see if this Stipa has survived, some doubt over the hardiness.