Blue Grass – Varieties

Q: I saw you planting a bright blue ornamental grass on your Turner South television show. I am in love with blue plants and have a berm that I am trying to do entirely in grasses. I’ll have large pampas grass at the top down to small grasses in front. Could you recommend varieties please?

A: I believe I planted two “blue” grasses that day. One was blue Lyme grass, Elymus arenarius. The other was blue fescue, Festuca glauca, ‘Elijah Blue’. You might also be able to find Blue oat grass, Helictotrichon sempervirens.

It’s important to remember that ornamental grasses come in several different colors. Maiden grass, Miscanthus spp. can be green, silver, gray, or striped. The seedheads range in color from tan to pink to light red. Japanese river grass, Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ is bright yellow and shade-tolerant to boot! I particularly like purple muhly grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris, which sports smoky clouds of airy purple seedheads in fall. Download more ornamental grass information from Ornamental Grasses for Georgia Gardens.