Grass ID please

This is planted at my library, really like it, no one knows what it is though, could it be a pampas of some kind?

It's quite large. The leaves are kind of wide.

here is another pic

One more

Hi Frilly! Honest, I'm not stalking you; we just like the same forums. LOL

It could be a white pampas grass. If so, it should have big fat plumes in the fall. There's a beautiful pink pampas grass too but it wouldn't hardy there; it prefers zone 8 and above unfortunately.

so the white pampas would be hardy here? It gets probably 0 or maybe 5 below in the winter. This past year, we had a wind chill of neg 10. Once in a while we do that.
Lots of wind and not too much snow, so unfortunately not much ground cover for protection. Lots of freezing and thawing, which of course means heaving on the plants.

Oh, wanted to add, this is planted up around a building and probably blocks most of the wind ect, may shelter something enough to fudge on the zone thing. I always thought pampas wouldn't grow here. but at lowes they have a 'hardy pampas' whatever that is? I wonder if it gets as tall and big as the others?

I grew hardy pampas grass here in zone 7 where it gets down to 0 sometimes in the winter. Even colder during a bad winter. Mine survived. It did wonderfully in fact, but I didn't like it. Apparently there are two varieties of white pampas grass--a taller one with thinner plumes (mine) and one a little shorter with fluffier plumes which I see growing at Mexican restaurants here. Both are apparently very hardy. Both are sold as "hardy pampas grass".

I was disappointed with my puny plumes. They never got big and fluffy no matter how old the plant got, and the plumes were the whole reason I wanted to grow it. Wait til fall and see what kind of plumes that one gets and if you like them, go back in the spring and ask if you can divide it. It will be tough to divide as the it clumps very tightly. I had to divide mine with a sawz-all. It's not too hard to dig up because it doesn't seem to root too deeply, but dividing it by shovel is nearly impossible.

I'm trying the pink pampas this year again. I'm going to plant it in my microclimate with sand mixed in the soil in a very well draining location where many plants that aren't technically hardy here actually survive. I'm hoping it will survive there; I think I'll love it if it does.

The grass sold as "hardy pampas" is actually a ravenna. More cold tolerant.

Doug

That's the one I had and the plumes were nothing to brag about. I ended up freecycling mine.

The cortaderia selloana pumila, also called dwarf pampas grass) is hardy in zones 6 and above. That's the one I'm out to get now. It has the ornamental fat, fluffy plumes. It's also shorter (about 6 ft tall). My Ravenna got over 8 ft tall.

When yours makes plumes, maybe we can get a closer ID, Frilly.

This message was edited Jul 16, 2010 8:34 AM

ok cool, so they make plumes in the fall? or when should I take the pic?
Do the plumes 'open' at the top?

It should make fall plumes of some sort. Stalks will shoot up out of the leaves and rise above the foliage, probably in Aug or Sept or maybe Oct.

ok the local lowes has white pampas and hardy pampas. The tags say that the hardy pampas gets taller (10 ft) than the white. Does that sound right?

I don't know if the white pampas would live here, it says 10 degrees on the tag, the hardy pampas says -20. (F of course)

Yes, that sounds right. The hardy pampas is the ravenna. If you like the grassy look of it, then grow it. But the plumes are nothing you'll oooh and ahh over. The white pampas is the one with the fantastic plumes--the ones people dry for floral decor.

Do you have a microclimate in your yard that is warmer in the winter than other parts--maybe something on a slight slope where it would be well-draining in the winter? Something maybe on the South side of your house in full sun? You can always create your own slope--just put the pampas grass on top of the ground and mound soil over the roots, rather than digging a hole for it. If you'll add sand to your soil, it will drain better. And then it might survive your winter.

I use this method with plants that are zone 8 hardy. (I'm zone 7) The pink pampas is hardy in zone 8, but I'm trying it again this year in my microclimate, planted as described above. I'm moving my cannas there too since I lost so many of them this past winter. I have an asparagus fern, considered a zone 9 plant, that survived outside in this microclimate even during these past two winters which were worse than most other winters we have had. I couldn't believe it. But it's planted in an area that stays pretty dry, even when it rains, in full sun, on the South side of my house, pretty close to the house. I planted it out there one summer when I decided to whittle down my houseplant collection, not caring if it lived or died. And that rascal has been hardier than some of my zone 7 and 8 plants!

Maybe that's the trick--plant it and let it know you don't care if it lives or dies. Then it will live just to spite you. LOL

Here's a picture of the hardy pampas I grew and hated.

Here's a picture of the ugly plumes.

LOL I agree that is ugly. :)

The whole clump look of the first pic really doesn't appear to be the same as the clump shot I posted from the library. I wonder if even though the tag says 10, if the white pampas is what is planted at the library? I am almost sure it is pampas as it is very large. The leaves seem wide, not grassy, and it doesn't have plumes on it now, but I remember it having large tall things on it last year. The leaves have a white looking stripe down the center of them.

Does it have any scent when rubbed in your fingers frillylilly?

I think it is a form of miscanthus. I have a bunch of them. The white stripe is very distinctive. And it is hardy in zone 5a.

FrillyLily, several of my neighbors have Pampas grass, and we're in zone 5. It does really well, but there may be many different kinds. I know nothing about grasses, which is why I'm here!

Natalie

i planted a Pampas grass last fall and it did not come back this spring.

If you've got a pampas grass growing successfully in zone 5 it's not the regular pampas grass (Cortaderia), it's the one called hardy pampas grass which is in a different genus. Here's the one I know of that goes by that name that is zone 5 hardy: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54307/

thank you! I'll save that name for future reference!

I have no idea which kind it is that my neighbors have. I know that it took several years to bloom, but other than that, I know it's big like the ones in the pictures that you sent the link for. It's really pretty too!

Natalie