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Grasses & Grass like Plants
Grasses give a wonderful sense of mobility and a beautiful, gentle sound in the garden. They are wonderful with perennials in a border, as part of a prairie planting, or even in containers. The quality of their flower- and seed-heads is enhanced when they’re back-lit by the sun, and persisting seed-heads look entrancing when frosted.
Read more about choosing and growing grasses as well as perennials and grasses for early-autumn color in our advice section.
Availability and planting | All year
There are cool-season grasses, which flower by midsummer, and warm-season grasses, which flower in late summer or autumn. Generally, we will have a selection throughout the year. Many grasses will die back in the winter (sometimes to ground level) and then regrow next spring.
Acorus calamus Variegatus
€4.75
Silver-striped Sweet Flag This perennial is ideal for planting in wet ground round, or in an inch or two of water in, ponds. Acorus calamus Variegatus is a rhizomatous, herbaceous perennial, with an upright habit. The spear-shaped leaves are mid-green, striped along their length with creamy-white. Rather insignificant brown flower-spikes are b...
Calamagrostis Karl Foerster
Calamagrostis Karl Foerster
€10.00
Calamagrostis Karl Foerster Named for the famous German plant-breeder, Calamagrostis x acutiflora Karl Foerster is beloved of landscapers for its narrow, upright, architectural quality. A medium-sized to tall, clump-forming, deciduous grass, its arching leaves grow up to 90cm long. Pencil-thin flowers to 5’ appear in early summer, accentuating ...
Carex buchananii
Carex buchananii
€4.00
Carex buchananii - Leatherleaf Sedge A tufted perennial evergreen sedge from New Zealand, Carex buchananii has slender, orange-bronze leaves curved at the tips and looks particularly good when back-lit by the sun. Shimmering in the slightest breeze, it forms a lovely contrast to almost any flower, especially purple, blue and magenta. Brown flo...
Carex comans Frosted Curls
€4.00
Hair Sedge Frosted Curls A small, tufted perennial, evergreen sedge, Carex comans Frosted Curls has very slender, elegantly curled silvery-green leaves which curl elegantly over the edge of borders or containers and shimmer in the breeze. Carex Frosted Curls is a very useful, low-maintenance, garden plant, contrasting beautifully with flowers, ...
Carex testacea
Carex testacea
€4.00
Carex testacea - Orange New Zealand Sedge Carex testacea is a densely tufted, evergreen perennial sedge with arching leaves 40 to 60cm long, of pale olive-green turning orange-brown in good light. Brown flowering spikes in midsummer, on stems which later lengthen to set seed. Works well when planted in drifts or with tall perennials through it, ...
Carex testacea Prairie Fire
€6.00
New Zealand Sedge Prairie Fire Grown for its striking colour and dense, upright, arching habit, Carex testacea Prairie Fire is a small, clump-forming, evergreen, perennial grass, particularly good in containers. In good light, the slender leaves are olive-green flushed with deep orange-bronze and tipped with orange, turning orange-red in autu...
Chionochloa flavicans
Chionochloa flavicans
€4.00
Dwarf Tussock Grass Despite the ‘dwarf’ in its common name, Chionochloa flavicans makes quite an imposing tussock of dense, gracefully arching, narrow, evergreen leaves, giving good perennial winter structure in the smaller garden. In summer, beautiful, feathery spikelets (flower plumes) appear on elegant, arching stems held high above the leave...
Chionochloa rubra
Chionochloa rubra
€4.00
Red Tussock Grass A New Zealand native plant, Chionochloa rubra is a compact, perennial, evergreen grass with narrow, in-rolled, copper-to-red-tinted leaves, forming a graceful, open tussock. In late summer, lax panicles, up to 5’/1.5m high, appear on mature plants and persist into the winter; these bear awned spikelets (rather like barley heads...
Cortaderia fulvida
Cortaderia fulvida
€12.00
Cortaderia fulvida - Tussock Grass Also known as Golden Pampas Grass or Toetoe, Cortaderia fulvida is a smaller, more elegant form of pampas grass from New Zealand. A striking, clump-forming, evergreen perennial grass with narrow, arching, glaucous, sharp-edged leaves, it bears feathery, golden-brown flower spikes 6’ 6” tall in late spring/ear...
Cortaderia selloana
Cortaderia selloana
€12.00
Cortaderia selloana - Pampas Grass Known for its enormous flower-plumes, Cortaderia selloana is a large, tussock-forming, evergreen, perennial grass from South America, forming a mound of narrow, arching, mid-green leaves. Huge feathery, white or pinkish-beige plumes on strong stems soar above the leaves in late summer and persist through wint...
Cortaderia selloana Pumila
Cortaderia selloana Pumila
€12.00
Cortaderia selloana Pumila A dwarf form of pampas grass, Cortaderia selloana Pumila is more suitable for the smaller garden. A tussock-forming, evergreen, perennial grass, it forms a compact mound of narrow, arching, sharp-edged, dark green leaves 18” high. Big, feathery, creamy-white plumes are borne on four- to five-foot stems in late summer a...
Cortaderia selloana Rosea
€4.00
Pampas Grass Rosea Pampas grass, once a familiar sight in suburban front gardens, is undergoing something of a renaissance, with its handsome form and striking flowers used as a structural plant, particularly effective against evergreen foliage. This pink-flowered form, Cortaderia selloana Rosea, is a large, densely clump-forming evergreen, pere...
Dianella caerulea
Dianella caerulea
€12.00
Blue Flax Lily A smaller, flax lily with striking royal blue berries, Dianella caerulea is a quite fast-growing, clump-forming, evergreen, rhizomatous perennial, with an arching habit. The leathery, grass-like, arching leaves are mid-green. The light blue flowers in short-branched panicles appear in summer, and are followed by glossy, royal-blu...
Dianella revoluta Blue Stream
€12.00
Dianella Blue Stream A lovely grass-like perennial for milder areas, Dianella revoluta Blue Stream is a clump-forming, evergreen, perennial grass with broad, sword-like, light blue leaves. It produces blue flowers in warmer countries, but is unlikely to do so in Ireland; nevertheless, it is a striking and beautiful plant. Cut back to the ground ...
Dianella revoluta Coolvista
Dianella revoluta Coolvista
€12.00
Dianella Coolvista An attractive, blue-grey, grass-like plant from Australia, Dianella revoluta Coolvista is a clump-forming, evergreen, rhizomatous perennial forming a spiky mound of narrow, sword-like, grey-blue leaves. In May and June, tall stems carry starry blue flowers above the clump of leaves; these are sometimes followed by blue berries...
Fascicularia bicolor
Fascicularia bicolor
€15.00
Fascicularia bicolor A terrestrial bromeliad, forming rosettes of slender, rigid, spiny-toothed leaves. Towards the end of Summer the bases of the leaves on mature plants begin to turn red and after a few weeks most of the leaf becomes bright crimson. A bud then forms in the center of this rosette which opens into a pale-blue flower, offering a ...
Hakonechloa macra
Hakonechloa macra
€12.00
Japanese Forest Grass A very adaptable Japanese grass, Hakonechloa macra is a clump-forming, deciduous grass which forms a broad, low, dense mound of narrow, arching, bright green leaves. These turn copper and red in autumn, and persist into winter. Sprays of greenish brown flowers with rather oat-like spikelets appear in mid- to late summer; th...
Imperata cylindrica Red Baron
€10.00
Imperata c. Red Baron - Japanese Blood Grass Imperata cylindrica Red Baron is an unusual and dramatic grass, slowly forming a low clump. Leaves are green at the base, with red tips that become more intense over the summer and fall until they appear to glow. Effective as an edging, in the rock garden, and especially when mass planted. Although th...
Libertia grandiflora
Libertia grandiflora
€4.50
Libertia grandiflora Libertia grandiflora produces strong clumps of narrow, grassy, dark green leaves above which appear stiff stems carrying sprays of saucer-shaped white flowers, followed by attractive orange-brown seed pods. Site: Wind & Salt tolerantPosition: Full sun or light shadeSoil: Well drainedFlowering Period: May to JulyHardines...
Luzula sylvatica Solar Flair
€4.00
Great Wood-rush Solar Flair A diminutive, vividly coloured cultivar of the native great wood-rush, Luzula sylvatica Solar Flair is a compact, evergreen, perennial grass with a clump-forming, non-spreading habit. The glossy, arching leaves are broadly linear, and golden-yellow to lime-green. In May and June, arching stems rise above the clump, be...