October 14, 1998

If a perennial border is an orchestra, then the ornamental grasses are the brass section. The bold form and the metallic shine and glitter of the foliage provide the counterpoint to the soft flowers and gentle shapes of the rest of the border. Coaxed by gentle breezes in the sunlight, grasses shimmer and sway to music of the wind. Their plumes glow when backlit by the evening sun. No other plant brings such vitality and spirit to the garden.

Using grasses as ornamentals in the landscape is not a new idea. Old photographs of Victorian landscapes often show a clump of Cortederia (pampas grass) or Miscanthus planted out in the center of a broad lawn, a sort of living sculpture. The few grasses available to gardeners then were mostly large-scale plants and it wasn’t until later that grasses became useful in mixed borders.

The German nurseryman, Karl Foerster worked hard to promote the use of ornamental grasses. He gathered specimens from all over the world and tested them at his nursery. His catalog in the 1940’s listed over a hundred different varieties. His influence on succeeding generations is responsible for the growing popularity of ornamental grasses in the United States today. One of the most versatile and beautiful ornamental grasses used in the Midwest is named in honor of him, Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’. Visitors to downtown Kewanee will see this stately grass used as the focal point in the perennial gardens there.

Calamagrostis, or feather reed grass, is so useful to perennial gardeners because of its long season of interest. It is a cool season grass, so it gets started much earlier than Miscanthus or Pennisetum. Often by mid-June it is already in flower and it holds its bloom and foliage into winter. The grass grows as an upright column, making a stunning vertical accent, contrasting nicely with the rounded forms of other border occupants. It must have full sun and rich moist soil to perform well.

Another renowned German plantsman, Ernst Pagels, has introduced a good number of ornamental grasses, especially Miscanthus, or maiden grass. In fact, there are more than a hundred Miscanthus varieties available to gardeners today and almost half of them are the work of Mr. Pagels. My wife, Donna, and I had the opportunity to visit Mr. Pagels at his nursery in Leer, Germany, a couple of years ago. While he was showing us several new yarrows he was about to introduce, a particular Miscanthus caught my eye. The young plumes were a striking purple-red in the German sunlight. He told us that he developed this particular Miscanthus, which he named ‘Malepartus’, for its red plume and early flowering. He said it was the finest red-pluming variety he had seen. He liked it because it held its plumes high over the foliage and because of its fall color.

Mr. Pagels, who I guess to be in his late 80’s, also introduced Miscanthus ‘Graziella’, another early blooming maiden grass. Pagels is very fond of this grass and many grass experts consider this to be the best of the Miscanthus varieties. It grows 5 to 6 feet tall and about 3 or 4 feet wide. The flowers are at first rosy-pink, fading to silvery white. In autumn, the dull green foliage turns to reddish brown.

Now is a good time to visit display gardens at nurseries and public gardens to see the ornamental grasses in full glory. Many grasses take two or three years to develop fully. Seeing mature grasses displayed in garden settings will help you visualize them in your own garden. Although I don’t recommend planting grasses at this late date, you can make note of the varieties you want to add to your borders next spring.

Be aware that although there are hundreds of ornamental grasses available, only a limited number of them are hardy in this area, so it is important to do your homework. The University of Minnesota publication 573, Ornamental Grasses for Cold Climates, phone (615) 625-8173, is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the hardiness of grass varieties.