Extension

Homeowners looking to add year-round visual interest to the landscape should consider ornamental grasses. Their graceful form, texture and movement, coupled with the various sizes and colors, make ornamental grasses a promising option. As an added bonus, these grasses provide food and habitat for wildlife.

Over time, ornamental grasses have been bred and selected for special traits – just as breeders do with flowering plants. Breeders take into consideration blade color and variegation, cold and heat hardiness, as well as shape, size and flower. There are a couple of standouts in Oklahoma – Blue Grama and Pink Muhly Grass.

Blue Grama is a warm-season native grass found throughout the Great Plains. Blue grama and buffalograss were the major native grass species found on the short grass prairie.

A popular form of blue grama is Blonde Ambition. This form of blue grama is a warm-season native grass with a strikingly new look. It flowers in mid-summer through the fall. The flowers, often described as eyelash-like, start out chartreuse and turn into a blonde seed head as they age. The flower sits horizontally at the tip of the stem, not upright, which adds to the grass’s unique beauty. The seed heads remain on the plant through the winter, providing additional visual interest in the landscape.

The leaves of Blonde Ambition are fine-textured and gray-green. Leaf height ranges from 12 to 18 inches, but the flower height can reach about 24 to 30 inches. This cultivar boasts larger, more robust flowers than those of the typical blue grama. In addition, Blond Ambition prefers full sun and tolerates most well-drained soils. It is also drought- and cold-tolerant.

Pink muhly grass offers a beautiful pink color that truly stands out in the fall. This grass erupts with air blossoms in September and holds the color throughout November. There are multiple cultivars, including Pink Cloud, Regal Mist and Pink Flamingo.

Pink Flamingo is a popular form of this native perennial grass. First found in Texas, the grass is heat-loving and drought-tolerant. It is cold-hardy to zone 6, so it will do well across Oklahoma. Plus, deer don’t find it palatable, so it’s a good choice in rural landscapes.

The showy color stands atop exceptionally thin, blue-green blades. The grass has a narrow profile, spreading only up to 18 inches, but it can reach 4 to 5 feet tall when in bloom. This makes it a good choice for tight spaces. Plant it in a sunny location to enjoy its delicate texture and gentle sway in the wind.