Plant of the month: Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’
Posted:31 October 2013
You may well be surprised at our choice this month as Pampas Grass is a bit of a ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ plant, especially when stuck out on its own in the middle of a lawn or front garden!
Yesterday we visited Sheffield Park to see the autumn colour (though due to the lack of cold nights and sunny days the trees have been slow to change) and took these photos and now, having seen this amazing plant at it’s best, we’ve decide that we definitely love it!
Our favourite cultivar is Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’, a more compact and free-flowering variety of this much-maligned ornamental grass. It is perennial and evergreen and forms a compact clump of narrow rough-edged arching leaves 45cm in length, with erect stems bearing dense silvery or pink-tinged flower plumes that are excellent for drying.
Unlike other cultivars this is considered a dwarf form as it only reaches 1.5m (5ft) high in late summer and therefore is better suited to requirements in smaller gardens.
- Grow in any fertile, well-drained soil in full sun (give it ample space to develop into a specimen)
- Protect crowns of young plants in their first winter
- Cut and comb out the previous years stems and dead foliage annually in late winter or early spring
- Always wear stout gardening gloves when working with pampas grass to protect hands from cuts caused by the sharp leaf margins
- Propagate by division February to April
This architectural plant is suitable for several situations including city and courtyard gardens, gravel gardens, coastal or cottage/informal gardens and prairie gardens. Also flower borders and beds, and cut flowers.
So happily it’s not just a plant for 60s swingers – why not learn to love it, grow it in your garden and bring the Pampas Grass back into fashion!