Discover the beauty of ornamental grasses

Ornamental grasses are the gateway to afabulous garden, and they make you see the world in terms of color,form and texture. That is why landscape designers are so addicted toornamental grasses, which are outstanding in all three of these aspects.

Grasses are easy to grow, flowering in the dog days of summer whenall else is hunkered down to wait out the heat. And no plant can offersuch a sizable impact for less money, as their fast-growth capabilityadds real zest to a garden seemingly overnight.

Late summer is the best time to shop for grasses because they willbe in bloom. This shows the nature of the plant and how they look inthe landscape. Spring grasses are just a tuft of leaves, hardly enoughto help us know how they'll look at peak season. The beauty of grassesat summer's end is that they can go right into the beds and borders foran instant autumn pick-me-up after flowers fade.

Many ornamental grasses bear colored foliage, while others arestandard green during the growing season. Purple fountain grass is thehallmark of colored species, with maroon leaves and lavender flowers.Other species offer sapphire-blue foliage, with still more in goldenyellow or lime green. Using these colors alone or even in masses cancreate a dramatic result. When the grass foliage is used against acontrasting background, the color literally pops.

Form is the basic outline of a plant and its growth habit.Ornamental grasses vary considerably. The perfect hemisphere of thefine blades of blue fescue makes this grass a favorite of the moderndesigner. Other types feature nodding forms that can look like fountainspray when in full bloom. There are also some species that are straightand tall, the grass spiking high in the air to catch the wind. And whenthe breeze sends these ornamentals into nod and sway, they turn intothe most animated plants in the garden.

Grasses are textured plants. The narrower the grasses' leaves, themore finely textured they are. Some coarse, tropical grasses offerblades fully 2 inches wide, while the hardy, cold-weather fescues arenotorious for their needle-fine spikes. Texture makes grasses seemvaporous in the landscape compared to other rigid plants with solidvolume and form. The key to exploiting texture is to play the grassesagainst more rigid or larger-leaf plants to enhance their contrast.

There are more grass species and varieties on the market today thanever before. Many are imports from around the world that flourish in avariety of climates. Others are old standby species that have been bredinto new colors and sizes to improve on their best qualities.

Most ornamentals are bunch grasses, which develop a large crown justabove the soil, composed of many different points. The roots can extendmany feet deep in the soil to tap moisture while the surface dries outin the heat. In late summer, these plants send up spikes of fluffyflowers pollinated by the wind. In the fall, with the coming of frost,the flowers remain upright, ready to shed their seed. With frost comesa foliage change, the leaves turning russet or gold. These warm colorsstand out in sharp contrast against the first blanket of snow. With theonset of early spring, the dead chaff is cut away from the crownallowing the new growth to rise unhindered.

Grasses are a cheap and elegant way to fill in a sparse landscape.Buy them in bloom to know exactly what you're getting. Insist on labelsthat stipulate the height and diameter of the plant at maturity. Thenplant your grasses, test them out and discover the magic that resultswhen you learn to use grasses well.

Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist. Her blog, the MoZone, offers ideas for cash-strapped families. Read the blog at www.MoPlants.com/blog. E-mail her at mogilmer@yahoo.com. Also, join her online for the Garden Party social networking at Learn2grow.com.