I’m still debating whether to include this grass in next year’s garden, but it’s occurred to me that what I consider its vices might be virtues for someone else.<\/p>\n
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Say you can’t grow phormiums and you want a dark-leaved one really bad. (And this NOID phormium pictured above is nowhere near as dark as it gets, such as in ‘Black Adder.’<\/a>)<\/p>\n The Princess might make you forget all about phormium envy.<\/p>\n The leaf blades are as wide as some phormiums and fairly stiff, keeping a vase-shaped form. Grass on the left, phormium on the right.<\/p>\n And because it doesn’t bloom, it retains that dark-leaved, phormium-like presence the entire summer. Seen here behind the plumes of Chloris virgata. This division was so small and thin this spring I didn’t think it could possibly thrive. Oh, yes, it could.<\/p>\n Darker than any phormium I’ve grown so far, it’s been bred not to flower, though it throws an occasional bloom here, so dark as to mostly go unnoticed.<\/p>\n Hardy to zone 8. In a colder-zoned garden, maybe this kind of vigor would be a virtue, achieving good size in just one season. And if you tire of that inky blackness and want to lighten things up a bit, think of it as a disposable phormium that reaches full size in one season. Pass it on or compost. <\/center><\/p>\n <\/big><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m still debating whether to include this grass in next year’s garden, but it’s occurred to me that what I consider its vices might be virtues for someone else. Say you can’t grow phormiums and you want a dark-leaved one … Continue reading ![\"](\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/august2013\/P1018049.jpg\")
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\nThe above photo coincidentally brings up what are for me its vices. All the stats available on this grass list it as topping out at 3-4 feet. Here in zone 10 this is a monster of a grass. That clump, 6 feet tall by 5 feet wide, was split off from last year’s main clump and moved here last fall. Because it thickens up so fast, it needs frequent splitting.<\/p>\n![\"](\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/august2013\/P1017982.jpg\")
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\nKeeping it on the very dry side in my garden does nothing to inhibit its vitality. <\/p>\n![\"](\"http:\/\/i52.photobucket.com\/albums\/g23\/botanizeme\/august2013\/P1018048.jpg\")
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\n(I’m linking this post to Loree’s favorite plant of the week on her blog Danger Garden<\/a>.)<\/p>\n