#BEYOND BLUE BLUE FESCUE FULL#

#BEYOND BLUE BLUE FESCUE FULL#

Enjoys full sun near the coast but will appreciate some afternoon shade in hot, inland areas. Airy grass flowers rise another foot with chalky-blue stems. Soft, blue-grey leaves form a dense little mound about 10 inches high by a foot wide. This tidy little beauty was discovered on the south fork of the Smith River in Del Norte County. We selected this cultivar from a seed crop collected near Willits, Mendocino County. Deer resistant.įestuca idahoensis 'Little Bald Hills' (Idahoe fescue) Drought tolerant once established but thrives with occasional summer water. Useful as a specimen or in drifts, this grass serves as a sturdy ground cover in deciduous oak woodlands or other lightly shaded areas. The grass flowers rise 5-6 feet tall with loose inflorescences dangling from the arching stems. Wide gray blades grow in mounds about 3 ft.

Living up to its name, this selection is extremely robust, growing twice the size of typical California fescue. Deer resistant.įestuca californica 'Willit's Giant' (giant California fescue) Drought tolerant but appreciates a little supplemental summer water. Can stand alone or use in drifts for a wonderful textural effect. Wonderful understory grass among trees and shrubs or other partly shaded areas. Will accept full sun along the coast but best with light shade. blue-green blades to 1 foot tall with airy flower stems rising to 3 ft. A good choice for gardens with limited space where the typical California fescue may prove too large. Deer resistant.įestuca californica 'Scott Mountain' (California fescue)Ī Native Sons Nursery selection from Siskiyou County. It prefers good drainage and bright shade inland with little to occasional summer water. Its cultivar name is a pun for baby boomers that watched the 50’s show The Phil Silver’s Show, starring Phil Silvers. X 2 ft.) foliage with unusually stout and heavy grass-flowers, this robust clone holds up well throughout the season. Gray-green in spring, it turns more silver-gray as the dry season progresses. Deer resistant.įestuca californica 'Phil's Silver' (California fescue)Ī bunch grass selected from seedlings grown from seed collected almost within sight of the ocean (Shell Beach area, Sonoma Coast). Similar to ‘Scott Mountain’, but with taller, more silvery foliage. Grows naturally in partial shade under oaks where it can be very drought tolerant once established. In late spring, slender, airy grass flowers rise another 2 ft. Features remarkably broad, stiff leaves colored an appealing silvery-grey reaching up to about 18 inches in height. We selected this unusual form of California fescue from the Trinity Mountains in Northern California. Deer resistant.įestuca californica 'Long Canyon' (California fescue)

They are drought tolerant once established. A natural for under native oaks where they receive light shade and little summer water.

tall with graceful, airy flower stalks rising another 2 ft. Once thought to be native but now recognized as a hybrid of unknown origin. Deer resistant.Ĭalifornia fescue is a beautiful native bunchgrass often seen cascading down oak studded slopes. Good with moderate to occasional irrigation. Protect from the hot afternoon sun in warmer areas. Features dense bunches of lovely chalky blue leaf blades 10 - 12 inches tall with grass flowers rising up to 12 inches above the foliage. Deer resistant.Ī handsome selection from the Berkeley Botanic Garden. Beautiful in mass or as an accent, grows well in containers too. Requires decent drainage with full sun along the coast and light shade inland and moderate to occasional summer water. This cool season grass forms a neat mound of vibrant blue foliage, 9 - 12 inch tall and 12 - 18 inches wide, with silvery grass flowers that fade to tan. glauca 'Elijah Blue'.A natural mutation of Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’, introduced by a Dutch nursery and said to offer the bluest of the blue colored blades. Synonymous with Festuca ovina 'Elijah Blue' and Festuca ovina var. 'Elijah Blue' is one of the best of the blue fescues.

Genus name comes from the Latin word meaning a grass stalk or straw. Flowers give way to buffy seed heads which some gardeners find attractive but others find detractive to both the symmetry of the plant and the foliage color. Light green flowers with a purple tinge appear in terminal panicles atop stems rising above the foliage in late spring to early summer, but inflorescences are not very showy. Foliage forms a dome-shaped, porcupine-like tuft of erect to arching, needle-like blades radiating upward and outward to a height of 6-8' (inflorescences typically bring total clump height to 10-14'). Festuca glauca, commonly called blue fescue, is a short-lived, low-growing, semi-evergreen, clump-forming ornamental grass noted for its glaucous, finely-textured, blue-gray foliage.

Beyond blue blue fescue