Buy pony tails or angel hair ( syn. Stipa tenuifolia ) Stipa tenuissima

Stipa tenuissima

pony tails or angel hair ( syn. Stipa tenuifolia )

pony tails or angel hair ( syn. Stipa tenuifolia )

Wonderful, wispy, pale yellow-green leaves topped with fluffy plumes of silver-green flowers, maturing to blonde-buff. This versatile semi-evergreen grass is ideal for a sunny gravel garden, large container or new perennial border. It's perfect for introducing movement into a planting scheme since the fluffy flower heads and foliage billow in the slightest breeze.

Growing instructions:

Sow under glass from January to March in pots or trays of seed compost, sow thinly and cover lightly with a fine layer of compost. Firm gently and keep moist. Cover with glass, polythene or a propagator lid. Keep at approx. 20ºC. Germination may be slow and erratic. Seed germination may be slow and erratic. Seedlings appear in 14-42 days. Once seedlings appear remove the cover and when large enough to handle, transplant small clumps to individual 9cm pots. Acclimatise seedlings outside for a few days in late May (avoid frosts). Transplant 30cm apart in growing position. Keep moist and weed-free, especially in containers.

Flowering period:

Eventual height:

0.6m

Eventual spread:

0.3m

Position:

Full sun

Rate of growth:

Average

Soil:

Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil

Hardiness:

Fully hardy

This grass is semi-evergreen, so it can lose some of its foliage in winter. In colder regions or more exposed gardens, it may lose it all, but then fresh new growth appears again in spring.