Wanted Ornamental Grasses

I am looking for seed for
Pompas Grass Mixed

Thanks Connie



This message was edited Sep 2, 2006 8:38 AM

besides the pompas grass mix, I am also looking for Dwarf Fountain Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln'
Thanks CG

I have the Pennisetum alopecuroides with a flower/fluffy bit on it at the moment, I am not too sure what the seeds look like.

I don't have a clue either.
But it sounds pretty :o)
CG

I have plent of pumpous grass, are the seeds in the fluffy part? I'll go check tomorrow.

as far as I know it ism not really sure.

Do you have the mixed colors?
cg

Pumpos pompos??? That sounds funny. We call it Pampas Grass. The seed is in the flufy bit. Its small and brown compared to the fluffy bit its quite dull. The fluffy bit helps disperse the seed in the wind.
To germinate sow in spring in soil-less seed compost. At 18oC cover with vermiculite. Takes about 14-21 days.
Pennisetum is simliar the fluffy heads come apart and the seed has a long tail on it. Thats what makes them look fluffy.
To germinate Sow in late summer early summer when the temperature does not go below 9oC at night. Germination takes 10-15 days.
Most Pennisetum are not hardy and need minimum of 5oC.
I hope to have seed from Pennisetum glaucum Purple Majesty but it will be home collected seed so not sure if it comes true. But if you ever see it growing well its worth it.

Thanks for coming to the rescue Mike ;o)

Does the Purple Majesty have cat tail like shoots in the middle?
that the seeds are on

Connie

Hang on i'll get you a picture of it now.

Mike

Here we go..
Like this.
Its flowering now so you can see the yellow pollen on the flower.

Thanks Mike, I got seed for this, I hope it grows for me, I will be planting it in the spring or WSing it. It is an annual here.

Connie

Hi Connie,
When it first come up its green so don't throw them out thinking its just grass. hehehe
I took a picture of the dolchios lablab seed pod i'm waiting to send you!

oh WOW & WOW :o)

Hi CoreHHI, was just wondering if you got any seeds for your Pampas Grass.
Connie

I've got seeds comming n my zebra grass, if you want some, don't know if they are viable, maybe mike_freck knows about these?
Lea

k thanks Lea, just let me know when its ready.
Connie

They will be ready any day now, will send when they are.
Lea

here are the grasses I am looking for, if by chance you have already sent me seed for one or all of these please tell me which ones was sent, Thanks so much.
Picture 1 Elijah-blue

Picture 2 Pennisetum Karley Rose

Picture 3 Pennisetum Setaceum Purple Fountain

Picture 4 Sporobolus Heterolepis Prairie Dropseed

Picture 5 The Blues Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues'

Picture 6 Shenandoah Switch
Panicum Virgatum Shenandoah

Picture 7 Korean Feather Reed

There are a few others I am looking for, but don't know the names of them and can't come across any pictures of them either.

I am looking for all colors of the pampas (how ever you spell it) :o)

Thanks

picture 8 Muhlenbergia Capillaris

Hiya, Connie i can't help with any of those seeds. But i can suggest some more grases i think are worth growing.
Not that i have them as grasses don't look right in my garden (except a couple of large types).
First have a look into Restio grasses these are fast becoming the new trend in english gardens. Some Restios are very hardy some not.
Other grasses worth growing are (spelling might be wrong as i'm doing this from memory)
Miscanthus Zebrinus
Miscanthus floridulus
Stipa Gigantea
Stipa tenuisima
Imperata cylindrica rubra 'red baron'
Carex buchanii
Fetuca glauca (or any of the blue ones there are lots of new varieties but i can't tell them apart)
Then of course there is the bamboo's and thats a whole new thread.

Connie did you get any pampas grass seeds? I can see a huge one from my front door but not a clue whose garden its in and i can't even do a night time run and grab because there are buildings in the way.
There have been a few different pampas grasses introduced in recent years. I still think the pink flowered ones is the best you don't often see it but its just so artificial looking. It would fit right in at a Gay pride rally! Lol
On a serious note new ones tend to be little dwarf versions and some with variegated leaves so are much more suited to town gardens. As the the true pampas grasses get enormous!

P.s Most grass seeds are long and thin and have a long tail (thats the bit that makes the flower head look fluffy)
Some grasses come true to seed but some may cross and some just won't germinate and rot off without germinating. Allways having a go though.

Have fun

Mike

ROFLMBO
That's a good one Mike :o)

No haven't gotten any pampas grass seeds yet. I love the pink one too. A dear sweet lady sent me some grass seeds from England, yes Mike from England :o) There are a few of them that she didn't know the names of.

I was out to Lowes the other day and got some seed off of one they had there, I believe it was Miscanthus floridulus, Then dh and I went to our local green house and the man there let me taje some seed off of one that is an annual here. Told me he wasn't sure if it would grow from seed b/c it was from Proven Choice or something or other. He also had some castor bean plants (Ricinus Communis they are annuals here) You sent me some of these too :o) The plant is pretty...
He gave me all the seeds off them that were ready to pick. b/c they were going to thro the plants out. One of the other guys there told me that these plants were good for getting rid of moles, the bean/roots are poisonus (spelling? lol) to them. I told my dh that and he said to plant them all over the yard lol. We are on an acre and a half and the moles have had a feild day this year with our yard :(
Can you tell me if this plant will it reaches its full height in one season, says it gets 4 to 8' tall I love the leaves on it.

We don't really have a good variety of places here to get plants and flowers from. Most are North or South of us and dh won't travel to far for flowers and such :( So when I found DG, I was happy, I have gotten lots of different things that I can't get here :o) or even knew existed.

Ken and I were sitting out on the swing on our back patio and I was telling him all the things I wanted to do in the spring and where I want all my plants to go. He is going to till a couple of the spots up this coming week :)
When we were at Lowes he got the price on the post and lattice for my rock garden. we may even put a pond in. his idea, so he thinks lol. I am just glad he is starting to help me instead of fight against me. The rock garden (my baby) and our driveway turn around (his baby) is what is going to be costly. The rest of the places we will be doing won't cost as much, mostly mulch. I want to plant a walk thru garden in the back with all my full sun plants because it is all open area. He is wanting to plant trees and trees and trees. (most these stupid silver maples grrrr)
I pull up every sprout I find and throw them in the ditch by the tracks. I hate these trees. I told him to plant something different and he's thinking about it :o) He seen some red buds he likes. I grinned and told him those would be great. I want lots of color back there....
Connie

Hi Connie,
We have lots of sweat old ladies over here in England. Lol.
In our house i do all the garden and Diy stuff and 'her who must be obeyed' does all the cooking and cleaning. Of course there are people who think thats sexest but since i've just got down from the roof of the house i want danger money.
While i was up there i was looking at that pampas grass. there is 2 big ones but still not sure its wise to smash and grab them.
I think your Castor bean plants should get nice and big just give them plenty of food and water when its warm.
Don't get carried away and start them too early like i do. They hate the cold and sit there and sulk so later planted ones grow faster.
have fun
Mike

I've tried to grow the Pink Pampas Grass several times, planting in the spring and planting in the fall with no luck, think it is iffy in our zone anyway, I love it wish I could grow it! Have looked around in town for a couple of years to see if anyone grows it here and it just must not be hardy here. When I grew it in the spring like an annual it didn't grow very fast and never got the pink plums, it migh be too disapointing for you to try in your zone, just though I would give you the heads up in my zone and I'm in 6a.

I sent your seeds out yesterday :)
Lea

K Mike will make a note of that and plant them after the last frost in the spring when the weather is warmer.

thanks lebug

Connie, to assist you in your 'grass quest' I found this site. Don't know if you've been there or not yet. It has a lot of photos and separates them into annual and perennials, and the perennials are hardy to zone 4, which should work for your area. This society is in Minnesota, so it's geared to cooler climes.

http://www.ornamentalgrasssociety.org/OGS%20Site/Ornamental_Grass_Society.htm

They show a Japanese Blood Grass that is very cool looking, and a Pink Crystals listed as an annual that is gorgeous.

Mike, is that a millet you're showing there? The pennistem?

Re: the pink pampas grass (or maybe it was fountain grass, but it was pink plumed) - I read somewhere that it needs three years to bloom, so we decided if we wanted it, we'd buy plants. So maybe it has to be somewhere that it would grow as a perennial, if I am remembering correctly!

Hope this helps!

~Sunny

Thanks Hineni, it's book marked now :o)
cg

Oh sooo glad to see that the elijah blue is perennial here :)

Hineni, Your right its pennisetum something purple baron. (go on someone tell me i got the name wrong)
I'm having a bad name day today!

LOL, DH said the same thing..."please, no pink grasses in the front yard honey!" He said I could only plant those in the back yard...hahahahaha.

He's more into the white and tan colors, with some of the dark purple to offset.

:D

no dh is not looking for the grasses, I am lol.
Mike you are right, he is a big guy, 6'4 and almost 300lbs, rhappily married almost 36 yrs. But he is a Baptist Preacher rofl

cg

ROLMBO...Mike, DH said to tell you that you are no longer on his "good peeps from DG list"....lol. It's not that he wants them, I do - but he says he's man enough to handle them in the back yard :) He'd prefer that the grass be camouflage and sporting 9mm's (he's an online gamer). So we work out the negotiating details and he's secure enough in his masculinity to let me cover the yard up in 'girlie' stuff for the most part. He raises cacti from seed, a time consuming endeavor that is too slow for me...haha. (although he did buy a 'baby toes' cactus because I thought it was cute!)

We've had quite the laugh over these posts.... :D


~Sunny

What would we do with out Mike, deffinately be bored to death, thanks for the laughs Mike, your a sweetie.

Sunny, I received some baby toe seeds in a trade, I hope they do ok, I thought those were really cute too. My dd loves cactus'.
cg

I agree, Mike's a hoot! I also found this link for you Connie, over at HGTV. It shows a beautiful grass called Pink Muhly that appears also to be good to zone 4, which is in your neck of the woods.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_plants_grasses/article/0,,HGTV_3607_3212966,00.html

Maybe we should think about putting together a co-op for some ornamental grasses??

~Sunny

In a newbie SASBE, I was given some blue grama grass ( http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1539/index.html ) as well as black fountain grass ( http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51698/index.html ). That 'Moudry' grass was the only listing under "black fountain grass", so I'm guessing mine is probably that one and looks like that.

Living in suburbia, my choices kinda become: grow grass, or grow pretty flowers and flowering shrubs...? ;) Actually, I do like ornamental grasses so I might try a couple of seeds of each, but if you're interested Connie I'd be happy to give them to you (or if you have seeds that might do well for me in my zone, you could tuck them in the same envelope & return it...?) If not, I'll still send the above grasses to you, since I only have room to grow no more than one plant of each, potted. Let me know if you're interested.

haha to Mike's masculine insecurities... here in America, all English/British men are presumed to be gay anyway.
J/K!!! We women generally go crazy for the accents, if that boosts your esteem any? :)

Hineni- my brother's a gamer, this made me laugh: "He'd prefer that the grass be camouflage and sporting 9mm's" Totally my brother. :)

~Gina

ps Mike- A friend of the family who comes from Scotland told my grandmother to never call the Scots or Irish by one or the other titles of English or British. I'm sorry I don't remember which, but I think it's English? I'm Scottish-Irish with a little Welsh possibly, so I'm ashamed to say I can't get it straight! Then again, I'm a product of the American Education System of recent years. Forgive me!