Grasses, Sedges & Rushes

Showing 1–8 of 28 results

  • Achnatherum calamagrostis Silver spike grass Z 5-8

    graceful, tawny-silvery spikes on this clumping grass

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Achnatherum calamagrostis syn. Stipa calamagrostis  Silver spike grass  Z 5-8
    Gorgeous, graceful, tawny-silvery spikes on this clumping grass from June all summer

    Size: 36" x 36"
    Care: sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil
    Native: Central & southern Europe

    Collected before 1750

  • Andropogon scoparium Little bluestem Z 5-9

    Blue gray foliage turns plum orange in fall

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Andropogon scoparium  Little bluestem  Z 5-9
    Blue gray  foliage turns plum orange in fall  with wispy, feather-like seed heads

    Size: 18" x 12"
    Care: full sun in well-drained soil. Drought tolerant.
    Native: all No. America, Wisconsin native

    Discovered by French plant hunter André Michaux (1746-1802) in America’s prairies.  Comanche used it to relieve syphilitic sores.  Lakota made soft wispy seed heads into liners for moccasins.

  • Bouteloua gracilis syn. Bouteloua oligostachya Blue grama Z 4-9

    Shortish grass with spikelets like fake eyelashes - very cute

    $10.95/bareroot

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    One sided, horizontal, purple tinged spikelets in July-September, very unusual.

    Size: 2' x 12"
    Care: sun in dry to moist well-drained soil. Deer resistant.
    Native: Manitoba & all US except SE & Pacific NW, Wisconsin native
    Wildlife Value: attracts butterflies

    For the Navajo this was a “life medicine” and an antidote to an overdose of “life medicine.”  Also used to cure sore throats and cuts – chew on the root and blow on the cut.  Navajo girls carried it in the Squaw Dance.  Hopi made baskets from this grass.  Zuni made brooms & hairbrushes from it.  Several tribes ate this & made bedding for their animals from this.  1st collected for horticulture by Humboldt & Bonpland in early 1800’s.

  • Briza media Quaking grass, Pearl grass, Didder, Totter, Dillies Z 4-8

    Elegant inflorescences with dangling oat-like spikelets

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Elegant inflorescences with dangling oat-like spikelets in May.  Use for cut arrangements, fresh or dried

    Size: 30” x 10”
    Care: full sun to part shade in any soil. Deer resistant.
    Native: Eurasia.

    In cultivation since at least mid 1700’s.

  • Calamagrostis brachytricha Diamond grass, Feather reed grass

    Arching foliage with gorgeous upright plumes

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Arching foliage with gorgeous upright pale pink plumes September to November

    Size: 4' x 2'
    Care: sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil. Deer resistant.
    Native: East Asia

    Collected before 1856.

  • Calamagrostis x acutiflora”Karl Forester” Feather reed grass

    Completely, reliably erect grass - winner perennial plant of year award 2001.

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Completely, reliably erect grass.

    Size: 3-5' x 2'
    Care: sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil. Cut back in late winter.
    Awards: Perennial Plant Association Plant of the Year 2001

    This is a natural cross of Calamagrostis epigeos and Calamagrostis arundinacea, natives of Asia and Europe.  German nurseryman Karl Forester’s (1874-1970) keen eye spotted this in the Hamburg Botanic Garden.   He listed this in his nursery catalog in 1939.  Under Nazi domination he risked it all by keeping Jewish friends & workers. After WW II his nursery was the only perennial supplier in East Germany.  This grass sent from Denmark to the US in 1964.

  • Carex comosa Longhair sedge, Bristly sedge Z 4-10

    Ornamental dangling bottle brush spikes from May to August

    $10.95/bareroot

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    Ornamental dangling bottle brush spikes from May to August

    Size: 2-4’ x 2’
    Care: Sun to part shade in wet to moist soil
    Native: all of sub-Arctic No. America except western intermountain states and provinces and except Alaska.
    Wildlife Value: food for caterpillars of several butterflies. Seeds provide food for wetland birds

    Rhizomes stabilize shorelines while plants give ducks cover and the seeds provide food. Good rain garden plant.

  • Carex davalliana Bath’s sedge, Davall’s sedge Z 4-8

    Short hedge-hog like clump with white flowers

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    OUT OF STOCK

    Short hedge-hog like clump with white flowers turning to bronzy spiked seedheads May-June. Best for rock, railroad or fairy gardens – anyplace for a miniature, clumping grass.

    Size: 6” x 12”
    Care: sun to light shade in moist soil
    Native: wet places in Europe and western No. America

    Collected before 1798 by Edmund Davall who botanized in Switzerland.