A Love of Grasses

My love for grasses grew as my gardening years progressed. Several clumps of Pampas grass were in the garden when I was a child, along with Phalaris arundinacea var. picta (Gardeners' Garters) and a single clump of Helictotrichon sempervirens - the Blue oat grass. The Blue oat grass grew at the end of the narrow border on the south side of the swimming pool, its long flowering stems, waved elegantly in the summer breeze, above the grey the basal foliage. It was a grass that I particularly loved. I went on to buy dozens of different species. Initially I potted them up into terracotta pots and lined the steps behind the back patio so I could observe them more closely.

The picture below was taken after an early morning shower, leaving the Panicum stems dripping with tiny diamonds.

Extracts from The Haphazard Gardener - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1781764131

'Minute diamonds dripped from open panicles of Panicum and Miscanthus ...'

'...open panicles of Panicum swayed gently in the wind, tiny rubies hung from their stems.'