A shorter version of monkey grass, etc. but where is it ?

I read in one of my magazines or somewhere else??? that there is a plant similar to monkey grass, mondo grass, or an possible offshoot of Liriope, etc. that makes a nice short border (not sprawly) if you plant it close to itself for an edging for a flowerbed.

What I remember about it was this ... (1) it was solid green in color (2) less than 5-6 inches (3) it recovers well from an accidental fringing by the lawn mower (4) it is not Ophiopogon planiscus 'Nigrescens' which has very dark leaves

I have repeatedly tried to find it again in my magazines or wherever, but cannot do so. Would love to have some. Can anyone think what this plant might be? Any ideas on where to buy it? At this point, I can't look the plant up with no genus or species name!!! 8(

Thanks so much.

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Could it be dwarf mondo grass that you are thinking of?

Does my description sound like that ?? Yea!!! What would the botanical name be? Do you know? Where would I probably be able to get it? I'm on the east side of Charlotte and don't know where I'm going half the time.

Karin ... a newly established NC

Hey Karin:-) I think that I bought my dwarf mondo at Home Depot during the summer quite a few years ago. It was in the groundcover section. It seems to be pretty common. Having said that, I love mine...Let me know if you can't find it. I think I have some, but would have to go look. You know how the drought went. Some things I'm afraid to even look for.
Bev

I think the variety is Nana. Don't know how much you need but I recently noticed that Classy Groundcovers has it by the flat. They are listed in Watchdog and often have a "special discount" if you watch the classifieds here.
It looks great growing between stepping stones.

Some nice info from ardesia and Bev. I think I have something to go on now. Thanks a lot. I'll let you all know what I came up with.

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Take I-485 west to the South Blvd exit. At the top of the ramp go left about a mile or two. On the left is Growers Outlet they typically carry dwarf mondo in flats. I'd call before I go to be sure (well, I don't call because it's right around the corner from my office, so I often just stop in to check for new arrivals).

Sorry I should have proof read , Growers Outlet is on the right just before the boat repair shop.

Karin,
Are you going to the Southern App. round up in May?

bev - forever the gracious hostess...you rock!

Hmmmmmmm, tggfisk. Don't know where that would be. I'll look at the area that shows the roundups. Thanks.

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karin - it is in Asheville on May 3rd :o)

Karin, here's the signup and info link.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/789409/
Come on in, the trading's fine:-) And don't forget the broccoli salad!!!

nc dirtdigger and everyone else reading, the invite is extended, I will try to locate the thread I announced it on.....

Just saw dwarf mondo grass at my Lowes. They seem to be stocking up the plants for the spring. They had a bunch of nice looking tulips to bad they won't come back next year.

Core, are you sure that they wouldn't come back for you in your zone? Even here, I have several varieties that come back for me. I'm seeing some of them up now. This would be year 5 for them. I bought some perennial pink ones 3 years ago and they are also coming up...but the older ones were not supposed to be perennial. I did plant them a bit deeper than I might have previous ones on a suggestion that I read somewhere. Then there are always the old standbys like the appledorns.
Uh, Karin....off topic, sorry. But the mondo grass....at Lowe's. See how fast we can get back ON topic, lol!

Ground is warm here during the winter and the tulips won't come back. The ground temp doesn't go under about 55 degrees here.

Core's right, tggfisk. They can't cool down enough in the low country to set themselves for another growing cycle. They rot. In the 20 years I've lived in the low country, soil temp has NEVER gone below 55 degrees. And I measure it routinely (use soil temp to tell me when to plant my veggies...). Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and say to yourself "That's a really neat plant"---like Lilacs---that just won't make it here... On the positive side, there's a host of tropicals (Barleria, Senna, Clerodendrum, Cestrum, Musa, Allamanda, etc), that we are starting to be able to grow with varying success here. Which is why I find a new Forum on "zone stretching" so intrigueing... Hope Dave's awake!

Hey Stono! Zone stretching is intriging...Tropicanna is a great one for that:-) Stinks about the tulips though. Suppose you could do the digging and chilling thing, but it's a pain and I usually forget to dig until it's too late.
But good news about the zone thing...the pom is holding on to it's leaves despite some bitter cold the last few days. It's quite protected in its little spot next to the house. (Keeping my fingers crossed.)
And don't bait me with the bananna thing. TSK, TSK! I'd love to try those, but would be heartbroken if they didn't make it...

Stono, there are actually species tulips that can and will make it in the heat. I have a few that were planted about 7 years ago and they do multiply. Sadly, the squirrels like the bulbs too so I do not have many left. If I ever buy them again I'll plant them in baskets or gravel. They are tiny bulbs and another problem is remembering where they are.

The Riverbanks Botanical Gardens sells these bulbs each fall. T. Cynthia is particularly pretty.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/search.php?q=tulipa+clusiana&Search=Search+PlantFiles

I found my first reference to the "short mondo grass" in an ad in The Charlotte Observer today. The ad was Growers Outlet in Pineville, NC. The price says 10 plants for $35.00. That sure sounds like too much to me!! What do you guys/gals think?

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think it would depend on the size of the pots. I haven't found the dwarf variety any cheaper than that for 3" pots. The dwarf grows slower than the regular Mondo so it is generally more expensive. Also, if the pots are very full they can be divided and you can double or triple your investment.

I think what you're looking for greenthumb is a variety of Ophiopogon japonicus. It's the only species of ophiopogon that I know of that has truly dwarf varieties. And Ardesia's right, "Nana" is a really popular one (and most readily available), but there are shorter varieties (with Japanese names that I can't remember---I think one was called"Gyoku Ryu, or something like that that was just an inch or two tall). And there are some cool variegated ones available too, but they tend to be larger varieties---up to 6' tall---but really attractive! I just love grasses that don't have to be mown!

I found the Dwarf Mondo Grass 'Nana' today at the Home Depot. 10 plants were $19.70. I thought that wasn't too bad of a price. Hope I can put it in a place where I can show it off!!

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I actually checked the price at Lowes today and they were $1.95 a piece. They were in plastic flats and I think they were in 2 inch cells if that makes a difference.

These are in almost 4 in. pots. That's the diameter across the top!!

Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is a fantastic price. They must have started propagating these plants by tissue culture, they were never that inexpensive when they were propagated by divisions.

Bet you're right, Ardesia!