I love the swaying movement of ornamental grasses in a garden, but, don't have the space to support them in the sunnier parts of my garden, instead I use Bottlebrush Grass, a wild grass of the open forests and woods.
Elymus hystrix is a graceful ornamental grass that I only noticed about six years ago. It just appeared in my garden, a gift on the wind and I have loved it ever since. It's hard not to appreciate any plant, especially a grass that actually prefers the shade and is tolerant of dry soil.
While other ornamental native grasses are barely showing life, cool season Bottlebrush Grass is green and beginning to sway in the garden. It's a grass with medium green coloring and an interesting loose structure. It's not at all like Panicums or River Oats that command a lot of space in your garden, in fact, I find the loose structure makes it a perfect grass to fit into a smaller space....perfect for
jam packed gardens.
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| I use it very much like others use "see through" perennials and annuals |
As a grass it's really nothing to get overly excited about until the greenish, bristly flower heads that resemble old fashioned bottle brushes begin to form. They rise above the foliage in early June (here) and are one of the grasses most attractive features. I find the tall seed heads (topping out at 5 feet) and loose structure make it an ideal candidate to use as a see through plant! It's a win-win, the garden gets a much needed grass presence without a heavy grass blocking light to other plants.
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| They tolerate sunny gardens, too. |
Bottlebrush Grass works beautifully in my garden. The tall swaying seed heads provide texture, interest, movement and a change of pace from most ornamental grasses.
Elymus hystrix is an easy plant that tolerates shade, dry soil, does not spread aggressively and has beautiful seed heads that mature to a warm brown and persist until late fall. It will grow beautifully under deciduous trees (including Black walnut) and you can expect it to grow 3 to 5 feet tall. Don't worry if you can only find seed sources, this is a grass that will grow quite well from seed. It can be found growing naturally in the Eastern half of North America including the prairie states down to Oklahoma.
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| See the spider waiting for dinner |
Like other native grasses, Bottlebrush grass has good
wildlife value, it provides cover for birds, insects and small mammals and is a host for the caterpillars of the Northern Pearly Eye butterfly and several moths. I think it's a good candidate for a pollinator garden, especially in shady conditions.
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| The seed heads persist till the fall and are easy to collect for scattering to other parts of the garden |
If you're looking for a good plant that shines in dry shade~this is it! You can take my word for it!
xoxogail
Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. WW is about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not; and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers. Please leave a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky and stop by the gardens of the other wildflower enthusiast!
Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at
Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.
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