Great pics Donn, and great place too (in front of a canal, lots of boats.. wow!!). I expecially liked the Pennisetum Moudry.

beautiful!!

can't be true 'Moundry' from seed, with the early bloom and higher flowers... I suppose you can name it whatever you want if you like it

I didn't name it, noki, Kurt Bluemel did, and it can be grown from seed. It's one of a few named grass cultivars which come true from seed. In fact, this cultivar originated with seeds from Japan, grown by the National Arboretum and sent on to Bluemel's nursery. 'Moudry' is the name of the fellow at the Arboretum who grew out the Japanese seed.

Nice pics, love the boat planting!

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anyone grow Paspalum quadrifarium?

Donn: You sent me some Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Moudry' which I winter sowed with good success. Does this normaly bloom the first year from seed? Right now there are no blooms on any of them. The purple rain grass if blooming nicely. The festuca glauca germinated great but I assume since it was a cold weather grass will not bloom until next year. Correct:
Mike

BTW Donn the 'New Hybrid" miscanthis never did germinate for me using winter sowing. If I ever get more seed for that one, I'll wait until the warmer weather to sow it. Mike

Mike,

'Moudry' blooms in the first year for me, but I have a longer growing season than you do. Blue Fescue has never bloomed in the first year for me. Purple Love Grass blooms first year.

The Miscanthus does 100% better if you spring sow it. Lots of the seeds rot while waiting for warmer temps when you winter sow it. I've had better luck winter sowing hulled seed (Parks and Jelitto sell it), so it must be the hulls that cause the rotting. I'm pretty good at hulling seed, but Miscanthus and Fescue are really tedious.

I'll share some pics... after being critiqued in the LD forum as making "colored hay" my gardens are officially classified by the posters as "grass gardens" so I guess I am an enthusiast, who knew? LOL

here is one of the first gardens I made in VA
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It has Miscanthus Cosmopolitan, Morning Light, Strictus and Yaku Jima. Pennisetum alopcuroides and Calamagrostis Karl Foerster, it is a butterfly and cutting garden.

This is a foundation planting
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That one had Mis. gracillimus and ML, Descampia ÂBronzschlierÂ, Carex buchananii, Panicum 'Shenandoah' Pennisetum 'Hamlin'and Cal. 'Karl Foerster'

This is my garden... eek
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yes, I do love Miscanthus 'Morning Light' lol

Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Overdam' - early, middle & late - (pictures of 2 different plants & in different years) - but you can see the long season colors well.

Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hamelin'

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Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah' - just starting to color and get its seedheads in late July.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Strictus'

Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus' - this one gets a haircut in June (I cut it in half - to keep it shorter and stop it from flopping).

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Donn, I love the Moudry in a Boat!
NiceThyme, I love your personal garden. Whatever is the white flowered plant bottom center in the photo (with very stiff stems)?
Leslie, How do you get such dept of colour in your photos? I'm sure I've seen the Strictus and Variegatus in another posting ....

Just thought I would add this one for fun~
Porcupine & Hedgehog in Lovegrass :o)

Ahhh! This is what I hoped to see in this thread. Just gorgeous!

Leslie, you and I like alot of the same plants for pairing, is that Cotinus 'Grace' next to the Panicum? I've got Echinacea 'Razzmatazz' next to my Pennisetum 'Red Buttons' (which hasn't impressed me yet) ... and sedums! Do you grow Sedum 'Matrona' ? I love it with P. 'Moudry' but I'm intolerant of the self sowing.

achnatherum, That would be Kalimerus pinnatafida 'Hortensis' sorta being rnamed by some as Asteromia I think. It's a real work horse and needs no attention, blooms for months.

Donn,
Your 'Moudry' look quite different from mine. When mine finally blooms (not every year) the blooms are much darker. The foliage on mine looks to be wider and the whole plant has a much more lax weeping appearance. If it actually blooms this year I could send you a little seed and maybe you could make a comparison?

Nice Thyme ~ I will have to look for the Kalimeris ~ it looks really nice! I presently grow K. incisa and i like it a lot.

a.

Donn, I have to agree with achnatherum on the description of moudry. Your's looks much more like an orientale species. The 'Moudry' that I've cultivated is wider leaved and shorter black seed heads.

Achnatherum, I've not tried incisa - it always looks so weak in pots, does it show nicer in the garden? Do you have any pics?

You both may well be correct. I just compared the Pennisetum in the boat to another clump of 'Moudry' which came from commercial seed, and the commercial grass has much wider foliage, and is more lax in form. It also isn't blooming this year (3 year old clump). The stuff in the boat was grown from seed I got in a trade. The foliage on the grass in the boat is about the same width of species P.a. but is noticeably darker green. The seedheads on the stuff in the boat is phasing from the pinkish color in the photo to a more beige color.

'Moundry' is not suppossed to bloom yet, it's a very late bloomer... I don't think a seed of 'Moundry' will guarantee the same plant, you could get some variation

nicethyme,
The Kalimeris incisa is definitely not as upright as your K. pinnatafida. However, you can pinch it a couple of times or cut it back by half well before it blooms and then you get a much bushier, more upright plant. This year I did nothing as you can see and, the poor thing doesn't get nearly enough sun. Unfortunately the photos don't do justice to the colour which is a rather wonderful soft grey-blue.

Achnatherum,
I don't do anything to the pictures - the camera is a good quality Sony (DSC F707) which we have had for awhile. I usually take pictures in early morning or late afternoon. And yes you have probably seen the pictures before - I love posting pictures!

Nicethyme,
The continus is the old Royal Purple. I use it as a cutback shrub - so it can be any height. I sometimes leave part up & cut back the rest, or chop it all down every year, or let it grow up a year or two, etc. As a result the leaf size and color varies quite a bit - would love a Grace, but would have to remove something to make room. LOL.

Razzmatazz is new - so I hope it returns. I have trouble with regular echinaceas, so I don't known why I tried a new one. Planted it in a dry spot near the pennisetum for luck!

I do like Sedum Matrona, but it doesn't like my wet clay much, not as tolerant of wet as the old Sedum Autumn Joy. I had another Matrona (second try) just rot out on me in the bed up near the house with the Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus' in my last picture and the Sedum 'Frosty Morn' in that picture is just hanging on! That area is pretty dry, but my neighbor waters incessantly and I get both his spray & runoff.

The wet is also the reason all my pennisetums, four of them all started from the same plant, are planted practically on the rootballs of my Crusader Hawthorns, otherwise they fade out slowly for me. The Crusaders, which are dwarf hawthorns, have tiny tiny leaves and don't shade them out, but keep the area nice and dry.

BTW, your gardens are just lovely - wonderful mix of plantings. I envy you all that space. You'd roll around on the floor laughing if you actually saw my little my garden & how stuffed it is!

OK, here's some photo's taken yesterday. It was late in the day and the lighting wasn't stellar but you'll get the idea. First, my Monster M.s. "Morning Light", which has yet to set its plumes, along with a stand of Calamagrostis "Karl Forster"...I may get two more to place here as they provide a wonderful privacy screem for the porch and the Monarda just isn't doing the trick here.

Next are some M.s. "Varigatus" along the back hedge with Calamagrostis "Avalanche" planted in front. I'm going to have to move these forward about 3 or so feet in the spring as the Varigatus have gotten huge in just their second year.

Another of my M.s. "Varigatus". Love the color and texture of this grass.

I moved this M.s. "Zebrinus" this year to get it into full sun and it's flourished. This is a 4 year old grass, which has been moved 3 times now. So I'm counting this year as it's 'first year' and we'll see how big it gets next year. Great behind the birdbath.

...and here it is last year. This is as big as it got. Not enough sun I'm sure.

Mailbox bed new this year. Pennisetum just blooming now. Didn't want too tall a grass so as not to block the neighbors driveway view when they are pulling out of their driveway. Pennisetum fits that bill perfectly.

M.s. "Gracillimus", In bloom and completely covering the Northern Sea Oats to its left.

M.s. "Purpenscens" and P.a. "Hamlin"

P.a. "Hamlin" Next to the shed.....

And with Agastche "Blue fortune" behind...

And finally, I know this isn't a grass, but my favorite "PERRENIAL" in my garden, Gaura "Whirling Butterflies". Marginally hearty in my zone but seems to like where it's planted cause this is it's 4th year and it comes back better every year.

Hope you enjoyed !

Blackie

Beautiful!

Blackie, I love your pictures. How lucky you are to have your Gracillimus bloom so soon. Mine doesn't even begin until at least the first week in October.
I have pictures that I would like to post but I just haven't taken the time to figure it out.

Some great grass(and garden) pics guys,some nice other plants too!

I love all the pics, but my Q: is how do you guys keep the edges of the berms so clean. I see some with bricks but most are not. Are you using landscape edging or a machine to keep it clean? There's just too much area to edge by hand unless you're at it 24/7.
Hope I have pics to share next year.

Rory

Here is Arundo donax at twilight.

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I have a very ugly propane tank I would like to hide. It sits at the bottom of a slope and would have to plant on the slope itself. The slope doesn't get much sun. I would like some kind of grass that blooms most of the year, likes clay and wet ground. Also deer resistant.