Horticultural Report: Ornamental Grasses

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Ornamental grass species offer distinctive foliage and varying textures to blend and contrast with the more standard flowering perennials.

There are two types of grasses:  warm-season & cool-season. The warm-season grasses are mainly deciduous, growing from spring through summer, blooming in fall, & going dormant in winter.  Cool -season grasses are usually evergreen & start their growth in fall, flowering in spring and summer. Both types have their flower clusters atop slender stems which bend & flow in the wind making them an interesting feature in the garden.

Ornamental grasses also have two growth habits:  running & clumping. Running grasses multiply by spreading stolons or rhizomes, and can be invasive.  The clumping type is not invasive.

There are ornamental grasses for all light conditions & soil types, and many work as container plants.

Early spring is the best time to plant & divide, & cut back & tidy up clumps of dead leaves & flowering stems from the previous year.  When planting the grasses, work organic matter, compost, and a complete fertilizer into the soil, & plant the crown above the soil line to encourage drainage & prevent rot.
Carex buchananii - Leatherleaf Sedge-'Red Rooster'
Carex buchananii – Leatherleaf Sedge – ‘Red Rooster’
Light -full sun to part shade
Height – 18″ – 24″
Bloom – insignificant
Care – thrives in moist, rich soil
Featured uses – cool-season grass; narrow copper-bronze foliage; maintains color all year; upright-clumping form; ideal for containers
Other notes – Carex or Sedges are not true grasses, but their appearance is grass like.

Helictotrichon sempervirens – Blue Oat Grass
Light – full sun
Height – 2′ – 3′
Bloom – May – July; tan to cream flower spiked bloom on arching stems
Care – needs very well drained soil; feed in early spring with all purpose
fertilizer; comb out old growth Featured uses – cool-season grass; accent, borders, mass planting; semi evergreen perennial; stiff, clumping blue/gray to blue/green foliage

Imperata cylindrical – Japanese Blood Grass – ‘Rubra’
Light – sun or shade, but color is more intense if full sun or where
sunlight can shine through foliage
Height – 12″ – 24″
Bloom – none
Care – good soil & moderate watering
Featured uses – warm-season grass; moderate growing; clumping; deciduous; broadleaf foliage that is the most colorful of the grasses with the blood red color at the upper half of the blade

Pennisetum alopecuriodes – Dwarf Fountain Grass ‘Hameln’
Light – full sun
Height – 3′
Bloom – tan foxtail like flower plumes on slender stems rise above foliage from late summer into autumn
Care – average to good soil & regular watering Featured uses – warm-season grass; clumps of broadly arching foliage

Pennisetum setaceum – Fountain Grass – ‘Rubrum’
Light – full sun
Height – 2′ – 5′
Bloom – long plumes of dark rose colored flowers fading to beige from July to October
Care – drought tolerant
Featured uses – warm season grass; dense clump of bronzy, purplish red
foliage.

by: Viki Ashford

Nan Quick’s Diaries for Armchair Travelers

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All- My newest travel article has just been published, and it’s a long one:
“RAMBLING THROUGH THE GARDENS & ESTATES OF KENT, ENGLAND. PART ONE.”
 Click here to read:
 Nan Quick 
Nan Quick’s Diaries for Armchair Travelers
www.nanquick.com
 

How to Attract Wild Birds to Your Yard this Winter

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Oregon_Junco_

Oregon Junco

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Wild birds can sometimes use a little help from us to thrive in winter.

“In the springtime we focus on providing nesting sites and food for migratory birds, whereas in winter our winter residents and migratory birds still need food, shelter and water,” said Dana Sanchez, wildlife specialist for the Oregon State University Extension Service.

“These things are not found so easily in winter.”

Lesser gold finches, robins, juncos, chickadees, varied thrush and other species call Oregon home during the winter. They’re scrambling for what little there is to eat in the cold days – namely, insects, seeds, and berries.

“In addition to winter residents we get some altitudinal migrants,” Sanchez said. “When it’s warmer in the Willamette Valley than the higher elevations, we have birds that come down to the lower elevations to try to root arthropods out of the moss on tree branches and visit feeders. Some birds also eat the fruits of hawthorns and snowberries.”

During these frigid months, it is more important than ever for birds to conserve energy, Sanchez said. As humans keep a financial budget during leaner times, birds must maintain an “energy budget,” she said. Birds are limited in their ability to store excess fat because of their biological need to fly.

Oregonians can help birds by providing dense shrubbery or evergreens to serve as shelter from the weather and other challenges. Small birds, especially songbirds, need to find shelter quickly from raptors and other predators, Sanchez said. They also need shelter in close proximity to food so they don’t have to expend as much energy flying to find sustenance.

“Consider native plants because they are more adapted to conditions we have here in Oregon in the winter, and many are adapted to resist heavy deer damage,” Sanchez advised. “Choose shrubs that offer a perching structure.” Oregon grape is one good choice. Birds also look for insects to eat in leaf litter and under the moss and lichen that grows on shrubs.

Below are some additional tips to attract wild birds to your yard and to help them survive the long winter.

  • When choosing shrubs for your yard, include wildlife-related questions in your research. Some non-native shrubs produce berries and fruits that are acceptable to wildlife, but have fruits or berries that are toxic. For example, although long hailed as a wildlife-friendly landscaping shrub, berries of the Nandina species contain toxins that can harm birds or other animals.
  • Prevent water in birdbaths, hummingbird feeders and other dishes from freezing by rotating with fresh water throughout the day or covering it lightly.
  • Be sure to clean bird feeders regularly to prevent disease.
  • If you add a water feature such as a pond, “realize that other things could use that water, like raccoons and bullfrogs,” Sanchez said. “Providing habitat for native wildlife is really important but be careful about what comes uninvited.”
  • Offer a variety of feeders positioned at different heights and locations around your yard. Also provide a variety of feeds. The diversity will attract a variety of birds with different feeding habits.
  • Consider providing suet, a high-energy food for birds. Other good choices include specially designed feeders that offer black oil sunflower seeds or Nyjer thistle seed. Other birds will enjoy a standard style feeder that supplies a mix of seed types. Finally, some Anna’s hummingbirds now remain in the valley through winter. Feed them the standard mixture of dissolved sugar – four parts water to one part sugar. But keep an eye on nighttime temperatures. It might be necessary to bring your feeders in at night and set them out again each morning so that your hummers will have liquid food available.

For more information about wild birds, see the OSU Extension guides below.

About Gardening News From the OSU Extension Service:
The Extension Service provides a variety of gardening information on its website at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/community/gardening. Resources include gardening tips, videos, podcasts, monthly calendars of outdoor chores, how-to publications, information about the Master Gardener program, and a monthly emailed newsletter.

By Denise Ruttan, denise.ruttan@oregonstate.edu, on Twitter at @OregonStateExt
Source: Dana Sanchez,  Dana.Sanchez@oregonstate.edu
This story is also online at http://bit.ly/OSU_Gardening2314