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9 12, 2022

Environmental Benefits of Perennial Grasses

2023-02-03T23:04:05-08:00Categories: Blog, grasses|Tags: , , |

Perennial grasses have long been popular garden subjects, usually for their aesthetic value -- the meadow effect when used in large drifts, the drama when backlit by the setting sun, the architectural beauty of those that retain their formal shape even into dormancy. Festuca mairei (Atlas fescue) catches afternoon light in a California garden There are, of course, other good reasons to use perennial grasses liberally in both private and public landscapes. Grasses are an integral part of many ecosystems and they provide many environmental benefits at local, regional, and global levels. Canada geese feed on

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17 11, 2022

Muhlenbergia Grasses

2022-11-17T18:53:48-08:00Categories: Blog, grasses|Tags: , , |

Muhlenbergia are wonderfully ornamental bunch grasses, widely adapted to almost all summer-dry climates. Yes, we are biased, but no garden should be without at least one Muhly grass.  As a warm season grass, flowering in late summer, they are particularly useful as focal points and drama for the autumn and winter garden. Muhlenbergia rigens Deer Grass, California native bunch grass with Ceanothus, at Native Sons Nursery The largest Muhlenbergia, M. rigens, is commonly known as deer grass, not because deer like to eat it, rather the big mounds draw deer to sleep on them.  Indeed,  like many

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23 07, 2021

The Carbon Capture Garden

2021-07-23T17:07:40-07:00Categories: Blog, carbon capture, grasses, Nora Harlow, perennials, shrubs, trees|

Carbon capture is widely viewed as a promising means of slowing global warming by reducing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, one of a number of gases responsible for trapping heat and warming the earth’s surface. Carbon dioxide produced by industrial processes can be captured at its source and injected underground. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is naturally taken up by plants, which transform the gas into a form that can be stabilized and stored in soil. Carbon capture is maximized by a diverse planting of deeply rooted trees, shrubs, and perennials, minimally pruned, with no pesticides and soil left undisturbed as

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20 04, 2021

Mendocino Reed Grass

2021-04-20T16:37:56-07:00Categories: California Native, grasses, Nora Harlow|

Commonly known as Mendocino or leafy reed grass, Calamagrostis foliosa is usually described as having blue-green or gray-green leaves with seasonal tints of purplish red, but that's not how it presents itself in my garden. Calamagrostis foliosa flowering in California garden This cool-season bunchgrass is worth growing not for the color of its fine-textured leaves, which for me emerge a rather dull green and remain so throughout the seasons. I grow it for its manageable size, its pleasingly symmetrical form, and the improbably long-lasting, greenish white flowers that remain neatly arrayed on arching stems as they age to

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16 04, 2017

Deer grass

2021-04-20T19:42:41-07:00Categories: Blog, California Native, grasses, Nora Harlow|Tags: , |

Deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens) is a fine-textured bunchgrass with erect to gracefully arching grayish green leaves to three feet tall and four feet wide and a haze of tawny or silvery gray mid-summer flowers on stems that rise two feet above the foliage. Muhlenbergia rigens (deer grass) Native to many plant communities throughout much of California south and east to New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico, this adaptable grass prefers some moisture but can go all summer without irrigation if winter rains have been sufficient. Occasional summer water may keep plants nearly evergreen. Easy and fast-growing in full sun

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27 02, 2016

Leymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’

2022-01-02T07:34:10-08:00Categories: Blog, grasses|Tags: , , |

Leymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince' with Artemisia pynocephala 'David's Choice' in foreground This is a wonderful grass if you have the space for it and don’t need to try to contain it.  Left to its own devices, Leymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’ billows around in a large meadow planting, giving the impression of movement without the slightest breeze. It also makes an effective bank cover, its extensive root system grabbing and tightly holding the soil and its leaves cascading like falling water.  It is especially nice as a background or complement to other plants. Coming out bright green in spring, this

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26 01, 2016

Blue oat grass

2016-01-26T15:28:52-08:00Categories: Blog, grasses|Tags: , |

Blue oat grass with lavender Grown well, blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens) is big on drama, its narrow, blue-green leaves forming a perfectly rounded dome when not crowded by other plants and older leaves providing a subtle infusion of tawny gold.  In early summer flowerheads arise on tall stalks two feet above the foliage, turning a matching golden color in late summer or fall. A clump-forming ornamental bunchgrass, up to two feet tall and three feet wide at maturity, blue oat grass likes full sun near the coast, but seems to prefer part shade or afternoon shade inland.

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