Ornamental Grasses

Ammophila breviligulata is perennial grass which produces an extensive rhizome system. The leaves have deeply furrowed upper surfaces and smooth undersides, and grow 1 to 3 feet (0.3 to 0.9 m) tall. The plant's inflorescence is a spike-like panicle that can reach 10 inches (25 cm) long; The spikelet is single-flowered, awnless.[4] The seed head appears in late July or August.[5] The species name breviligulata derives from the Latin brevis ("short") and ligula ("tongue"),[6] which refers to a feature of grass leaves called the ligule.
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Big bluestem is a perennial warm-season bunchgrass. It is tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions. The main roots are 6–10 ft (1.8–3.0 m) deep, and the plants send out strong, tough rhizomes, so it forms very strong sod.[4] Depending on soil and moisture conditions, it grows to a height of 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft). The stem base turns blue or purple as it matures.
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Perennial clumps grow up to a foot in diameter. Little bluestem is a very ornamental bunchgrass with fine-textured foliage that forms very dense mounds Slender, blue-green stems, appearing in August, reach 3 ft by September and become radiant mahogany-red with white, shining seed tufts in the fall. Color remains nearly all winter. This mid-prairie species, also known as Bunchgrass, gets its name from the bluish color of the stem bases in the spring, but most striking is the plants reddish-tan color in fall, persisting through winter snows. In winter the seeds, fuzzy white at maturity, are of particular value to small birds.

The seeds of broomsedge are evenly distributed along the 2-5 ft. stems and are striking in fall and winter when the fine hairs of the expanded racemes catch the sunlight. The clump-forming, perennial grass turns a tawny brown in fall. Unlike its relatives, Big and Little Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii and Schizachyrium scoparium), Broom-sedge can be an invader on disturbed lands, where it helps to control erosion. It is the primary native meadow grass in the northeast.

Sideoats grama is a warm-season grass. The culms (flowering stems) are 30–100 cm (12–39 in) tall,[4] and have alternate leaves that are concentrated at the bottom of the culm.[5] The leaves are light green to blue-green in color, and up to 6 mm (1⁄4 in) across. Alternately arranged spikes in a raceme The flowers bloom in summer and autumn. They consist of compact spikes that hang alternately in a raceme along the top 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 in) of the culm. The spikes often fall to one side of the stem, which gives the plant its name. There are 10–50 spikes per culm, and in each spike there are three to six spikelets, or rarely as many as 10. Each spikelet is 4.5 to 10 mm (3⁄16 to 13⁄32 in) long[4] and consists of two glumes and two florets. One of the florets is fertile, and has colorful orange to brownish red anthers and feathery white stigmas during the blooming period, which contrasts with the pale green, pale red, greenish-red, or purple[6] color of the spikes themselves. After blooming, the spikes become straw-colored. The fertile florets produce seeds, and when they are ripe, the spikes fall to the ground.

A graceful, fine-textured, clump-forming sedge native to the New England central or northern hardwood mixed deciduous forests. It can be identified by its narrow blades less than 1.5mm wide along with the unusual coiled stigmas. The foliage lies in a sweeping mound about six inches from the ground. If planted on slopes or in masses, the foliage appears to swirl in a gorgeous display. This sedge thrives in many conditions as long as it is in dry to average soil which makes it a great low-maintenance lawn substitute. Appalachian Sedge does do best in warmer regions with some shade. It will bloom to about 12 in and will bloom in the late Spring.

Pennsylvania sedge produces leaves up to 2 ft (0.6 m) long and 1 to 3 mm (0.04 to 0.12 in) wide that become arching at maturity. It has culms (stems) 10 to 45 cm (4 to 18 in) long. Pennsylvania sedge blooms early in the spring, from April to June.[6][4] Each flower cluster contains one slender staminate (male) spike 10 to 25 mm (3⁄8 to 1 in) long above one to three shorter pistillate (female) spikes each with 4 to 12 florets. During the blooming period, the staminate spike produces slender cream-colored anthers, aging to light brown, and each pistillate floret produces three long white, thread-like styles. The scales underneath the florets are dark purple.

Carex stricta is a species of sedge known by the common names upright sedge and tussock sedge. The plant grows in moist marshes, forests and alongside bodies of water. It grows up to 2 feet (0.61 m) tall and 2 feet (0.61 m) wide. When the leaves die, they build on top of or around the living plant, making a "tussock". Widely distributed in and east of the Great Plains, it is one of the most common wetland sedges in eastern North America.

This is a 2-4 ft., clump-forming, perennial grass bearing large, drooping, oat-like flower spikelets from slender, arching branches. The blue-green, bamboo-like leaves often turn a bright yellow-gold, especially in sunnier sites, in fall.Very popular as a low-maintenance shade grass, it is notable for its large, graceful seed heads. Sending up blue-green basal leaves in earliest spring, it can be 2 feet tall and a vivid green by May, with translucent green seed heads swaying in the breeze. By mid-summer, the seeds will have turned an attractive ivory and will turn brown in a few months before dropping off. It passes through most of winter a soft brown, but becomes tattered and gray by February, a good time to cut it back to the basal rosette. It reseeds easily and can expand aggressively within a couple of years, making a solid mat in moist loams. It has been used to prevent soil erosion along streams. The seed stalks are attractive in flower arrangements.

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in part shade. Prefers moist, organically rich soils.Cut old foliage to the ground in late winter before new shoots appear. Flowering stems may be removed in fall to tidy plants or left for winter interest.This is one of the few ornamental grasses that grows well in moderately shady locations, however it will not flower well if moved into too much shade.

Salt grass is a perennial with rhizomes and sometimes stolons. This grass grows up to half a meter but is usually shorter. This grass thrives on coastlines and in salty/alkaline soils. A pink-purple flower blooms on this grass. Salt excretes from this plant’s tissues via salt glands.

Eragrostis spectabilis is an upright, tufted grass that grows from 30 to 70 cm tall. Its common name, purple love grass, comes from its inflorescence towards the top of the stem. They bloom in late summer to early fall, turn purple, and contain the seeds. As the plant continues to mature, the inflorescence will often break off, and its movement will disperse the seeds. These seeds are reddish-brown and tend to be 0.6-0.8 mm long. During the fall after seed dispersal, the plant's stem and branches turn soft brown or tan in color. The inflorescence of Eragrostis spectabilis exhibits a whorled branching structure, with three branches coming off the rachis at a time

The soft, grass-like stems of this strictly wetland plant are in clumps and each bears clusters of very small, greenish-brown, scaly flowers, the clusters diverging from one point on the side of the stalk near the top. This common marsh plant is one of many rushes, most of which are found in wet soil or water.

Path rush is a rush or sedge with tough stems that grows up to 2 feet tall. This rush occurs in the wild throughout North America in places such as parking lots, fields, thickets, woods, swamps, pastures and along roadsides/paths. Small, light flowers bloom from May to September on the tip of the grass. Path rush thrives best in full sun to partial shade with medium to wet water and tolerates erosion.

Clump-forming, warm-season grass with open, lacy sprays with small seeds, Aug-Oct. Purple stigmas at flowering time. Switchgrass is a 3-6 ft., rhizomatous, loose sod former with a large, open, finely textured, reddish-purple seed head. Fall color is pale yellow. Bright green leaves occur up and down the stem, turning bright yellow in fall. Switchgrass is a perennial. Grows in large clumps, with many persistent, curly leaves. Switchgrass is one of the dominant species of the tallgrass prairie, but also grows along roadsides where moisture is present. The rich, yellow-colored clumps last throughout the winter.

The dominant grass in coastal plains of eastern North America, Saltmarsh Cordgrass grows 3 to 8 feet tall in moist, sandy coastal regions that are brackish to very salty. Its leaves are green with silvery white undersides. Flowers are 4 to 12 inch spikes appearing late summer through fall, with seeds ripening soon after. Roots are deep and fibrous, with rhizomatous colonization. A great plant for wildlife gardens in coastal areas of eastern North America, Saltmarsh Cordgrass requires full sun, moist to wet, preferably sandy soil, and lots of room, as it tends to form thick mats over time.