Use these plants to create pockets of foliage that complement summer-flowering perennials
affectionate - time of year perennialornamental grassesare well suited for the garden public eye , with their insidious leafage hues , exuberanttextures , and interesting habits . They put out solid former foliage that append textural interest to beds and borders from former spring through early summer , and their flowers and seed heads keep the display going well into fall and winter . To incorporate them into a garden design , think grouping two to four plants of the same species or cultivar together in pouch plantings , each clump covering about 10 to 20 square feet full .
Creating pockets of foliage with warm - season cosmetic Gunter Grass is an excellent way to augment the textures and colors of the summertime garden and to create a advancement of seasonal interest that accompany the earlier inflorescence of coolheaded - season ornamental grasses . Here are some of the affectionate - time of year grasses that emphasise my Zone 6 to 7Mid - Atlanticgarden with pockets of striking foliage before flowering . All prefer full sun and well - drained filth .
Korean feather reed grass and ‘Thin Man’ Indian grass
In full foliation , Korean feathering reed grass ( Calamagrostisbrachytricha , Zones 4–9 ) and ‘ Thin Man ’ Indian pot ( Sorgastrum nutans‘Thin Man ’ , Zones 4–9 ) bring out clumps that are similar in superlative ( around 3 feet tall ) but with very different decorative intro . Korean feather reed grass , with its fashionable , glossy foliage blades , is just and narrow-minded ; three plants cover about 10 straight foot . Its foliation show is one of the longest among warm - time of year sess . ‘ Thin Man ’ Indian grass is a survival of the fittest of a tallgrass prairie native with center - catching blue foliation that spreads out widely ; two flora will cut through about 16 straightforward foot . In flower , Indian grass is typically 2 to 3 foot marvelous than flowering Korean feather reed weed , top out at 6 to 8 human foot .
Big bluestem
Big Andropogon furcatus ( Andropogongerardii , Zones 4–9 ) is a tallgrass prairie indigene with outward - arching foliage blade that are dull green to glaucous blue . Big Andropogon furcatus ’s profuse , heavy foliage reach about 3½ feet grandiloquent and wide . Its foliage step is impressively enceinte ; two ripe plant will cover about 20 square feet . When in bloom , this grass reach a height of 6 to 8 foot .
‘Heavy Metal’ switchgrass
Switchgrass ( Panicumvirgatumspp . and cvs . , Zones 5–9 ) is one of the most unremarkably planted North American aboriginal warm - time of year sens . The cultivar ‘ Heavy Metal ’ is notable for its dramatic , metallic - grim foliage and unsloped riding habit . Two plant cover about 8 to 10 solid groundwork in a sack planting . When it comes into flush , its flowering summate a foot of height above its 3 - foot - marvelous clump of foliage .
Little bluestem
Little bluestem ( Schizachyrium scoparium , Zones 3–9 ) has densely mound attractive light blue to bluish green foliation with long , sparse leaf blades . Three plants will cover about 15 square foot , and each plant will get about 2 feet marvellous and wide of the mark before flowering . In pin , the foliage change to mahogany - red hue , and inflorescence brings the flora ’s height to about 4½ feet marvelous .
— Thomas J. Mrazik is a horticulturist , a garden writer , and the possessor of Goodly Gardens in Worcester , Pennsylvania .
picture : Thomas J. Mrazik
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Emerging early in the season, warm-season grasses display fresh colors and textures that quickly gain them garden prominence.
Pockets of Korean feather reed grass in the foreground and ‘Thin Man’ Indian grass in the background are framed by the flowers of cool-season ‘Goldtau’ tufted hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa‘Goldtau’, Zones 4–9), back and left, and cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata, Zones 3–9), back, left, and center.
Two big bluestem plants form a sizable pocket of foliage surrounded by perennials not yet in flower that include sneezeweed (Heleniumcv., Zones 4–8), ‘Little Joe’ coastal plain Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium dubium‘Little Joe’, Zones 3–9), and cutleaf coneflower.
A pocket of ‘Heavy Metal’ switchgrass complements the structure and foliage hues of rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium, Zones 3–8) and Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, Zones 5–9).
Little bluestem adds color and movement to a planting of wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa, Zones 3–9) and ‘Blue Fortune’ anise hyssop (Agastache‘Blue Fortune’, Zones 4–9).
