With its clump-forming habit, blue fescue forms uniform balls of foliage topped with feathery straw bloom stalks in the summer. USES: Ideal used in rockeries, borders and cottage style gardens. We produce hundeds of plants each year by dividing the best performing clumps. It is a clump-forming ornamental grass with a glaucous blue-gray foliage forming a dome-shaped, porcupine-like 15-20 cm wide tuft of arching leaves. Common examples of ornamental grasses include California fescue, deer grass, tufted hair-grass, blue oat grass, pampas grass, red fountain grass, etc. From late spring to summer it produces tall, narrow, blue-green slightly bristly flower plumes that turn golden-brown as the summer progresses. If you already have 2-3 year old blue oat grass in your garden, consider dividing the root ball of the mother plant into smaller sections during spring for propagation purpose. Be careful to not build any mulch or soil on the bark of your trees and shrubs. From my experience -- sun, sun, sun. Blue fescue blooms, though somewhat insignificantly, in summer; golden inflorescences add height and a softer texture to the otherwise stiffer structure. I wouldn't do too much with fescue, it is more that each plant seems to have a mind of its own, different sizes, shades. Add this elegant, ornamental specimen to a cottage garden to offer a cool contrast to warm green foliage and bright blossoms. Blue fescue is also very drought tolerant, making it a great choice for rock gardens. I can't tell in your picture. Blue fescue is an ornamental grass and a fun little plant that is best described as “mounding” and semi-evergreen. Description. Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' forms small hassocks of very fine, glacial-blue leaves, which become greener in winter. Ensure the plant is growing in a very sunny location with sharp drainage. If the clump browns in the center, you can divide and replant clumps of Blue Whiskers every few years. Easy to care for, it doesn’t require any pruning and it gives us a beautiful hue for an ornamental flower bed. Having said that, this plant is rated as a USDA zone 5 plant and although I’ve overwintered it in a zone 4, it has also died in that same garden. Blue Whiskers Blue Fescue can grow in poor or average soil, but needs good drainage. How to propagate Blue fescue grass (Festuca glauca) This is short guide shows the methods and techniques we use to propagate blue fescue grass in our nursery. How does one make blue fescue (Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue') happy? Some browned foliage could be combed out early in the season. Originally described by French naturalist Dominique Villars, its scientific name glauca is derived from the Latin adjective glaucus "pale blue-grey".. Name – Festuca glauca Family – Poaceae Type – perennial, grass Height – 12 to 20 inches (30 to 50 cm) Exposure – full sun Soil – ordinary Foliage – evergreen Flowering – June to July. These grasses can either be rhizomatous or clump forming and can even be grown from seed. Blue fescue is a cute little grass. Plant it in a rock garden and enjoy the soft blue hue among the browns and grays. Blue Fescue - Festuca 'Elijah Blue' from Garden Splendor® is a superb small growing ornamental grass that should be in every sunny garden. Blue fescue is relatively compact, forming a dense, rounded mound of blue-gray foliage. Light green flowers with a … Growing. We do this in Winter, we explain how to divide blue fescues in this article. Whilst its easy to grow festuca glauca by seed, each plant will have genetic variations. In spring, you only need to trim it back to shape and remove any dead leaf blades. One of the best and most colorful of all Blue Fescue varieties, Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' is a wonderful dwarf ornamental grass, mostly grown for its superb, evergreen, bright silver-blue foliage. Densely tufted, the foliage of finely-textured, blade-like needles forms a neat mound topped by upright flower plumes in summer. A summary of blue fescue facts. Blue fescue (Festuca ovina glauca), also commonly called sheep fescue and sometimes mistakenly classified as F. cinerea, is a small semi-evergreen grass native to Europe.Grown as an ornamental for its attractive foliage color, it is hardy in zones 4-8. Common name Elijah Blue Fescue ... Light & Water Full sun: Part sun: Zone 4 Bloom month June Bloom colour Tan Foliage colour Blue Foliage categories Evergreen; Silver. Blue festuca ornamental grass, also called Elijah Blue fescue, provides a dash of grey-blue foliage to your landscape. The genus Festuca includes a total of 300 to 400 deciduous and evergreen perennials. Taxonomy. Cool season grasses such as blue oat grass, blue fescue, and “Karl Foerster” and “Overdam” feather reed grass can be divided in late summer and fall. How to divide grasses. Some grasses have tough roots that may require a sharp knife, saw or even an axe to split them apart. Holds its color throughout the summer. It is adaptable to USDA hardiness zone 3 and above. Its blue-green foliage makes it a standout in any plant arrangement. Blue fescue is actually tough to use well, and you have done very well. Lift grasses from the ground with a spade. Blue fescue (Festuca glauca) is one of our favorite ornamental grasses for landscape design. It is a good addition to small spaces or urban lots due to its compact size; plants grow only to 8”-12” tall and 6”-8” wide. Blue Fescue Elijah Blue (Festuca glauca) is a hardy dwarf grass with fine wiry greyish-blue leaves and spikes of blue-green flowers during summer. Because it … Blue fescue. Alternatively, cut the clump through the middle with a spade. Festuca glauca -the blue fescue - is a species of flowering plant in the grass family, Poaceae. Use a high nitrogen fertilizer as directed and water in well. Fescues are cool season grasses so they look their best in spring and fall. ! Blue fescue, such as the Elijah Blue variety (Festuca glauca "Elijah Blue"), is a sun-loving and drought-tolerant ornamental grass. Common name: Tufted Fescue Description: cool season; clump forming Foliage blue-green, very narrow; 20-30 cm (8-12") Flowers June; 30-45 cm (12-18") Festuca glauca benefits from dividing every two or three years because mature clumps tend to die away at the centre. Features Deer resistant Notes Needs dividing every few years. Common names include blue fescue, blue mountain grass, and grey fescue. We usually divide them in two to three years intervals to keep them growing. I like to think of blue fescue as modular — it looks great as a single specimen or massed in a field. One of the best and most colorful of all Blue Fescue varieties, Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue' is a wonderful dwarf ornamental grass, mostly grown for its superb, evergreen, bright silver-blue foliage. A truly versatile perennial grass, blue fescue has an eye-catching blue hue that lasts all year. Blue oat grass boasts one of nature’s most elusive plant colors along with panicles of brownish spikelets in fall that reach far above the foliage. This means it makes a little mound of grass and kinda looks blue-green all winter. It is slightly larger than blue fescue grass in leaf and plant size. A cool season clump-forming silvery blue grass. Space blue fescue 20cm apart when using as ground cover. Bake it to get that great, matte-blue cast to … Divide Festuca glauca in spring, just as new growth starts to emerge. It’s perfect for growing in a rock garden, where it teams well with a wide variety of rock plants. Good fall and winter watering and proper mulching is necessary or the divisions will desiccate and die over the winter. Divide blue fescue frequently, probably about every two to three seasons. Drought tolerant once established, Blue Fescue prefers a full sun position and is ideal for pots and containers. The truest blue of the dwarf grasses and totally drought-proof once established, Festuca glauca has stiff thread-like blue foliage which forms dense, upright tussocks, from which steel blue flower-heads appear in summer. ‘Elijah Blue’ blue fescue is a unique plant for smaller space low-maintenance landscapes. With spiky silvery ... Can Blue Fescue Be Divided, How To Divide Blue … The blue fescue (Festuca glauca) is an easy-care grass that was originally native to southern France. See more ideas about Planting flowers, Plants, Blue fescue. Feb 23, 2019 - Explore Charlene Erickson's board "Blue fescue" on Pinterest. Split them using two forks inserted back to back in the centre of the clump, and then prize them apart. Festuca amethystina. Clipping back to 3-4" in the spring will help to retain a neat appearance. Nov 8, 2018 - Under the Sun Seeds provides beautiful Annuals,Perennials,Fruits,Vegetables & more,at a low price. Lift the clumps and cut them into smaller pieces with a sturdy knife. Good as a mass planting. It can be used as an accent plant, in mass plantings, containers, and crevices. Elijah Blue Fescue. Blue fescue is a neutral grass that never goes dormant. Plant characteristics and classification of blue fescue Plant order, origin and occurrence of blue fescue. This perennial grass grows low to the ground, in attractive round clumps, and fares well in most soils (including sandy soils), as long as the soil has good drainage. Densely tufted, the foliage of finely-textured, blade-like needles forms a … Festuca ovina glauca - blue fescue APPEARANCE:Fine-leaved low-growing tussock grass with slender blue-grey foliage all year. ... Divide the grass clump and root ball using a sharp ax. Try planting within the foreground of a mixed selection of contrasting ornamental grass varieties for maximum impact. To divide … Common Name: Blue fescue Genus: Festuca ... Time to divide plants: March to May . Festuca ‘Elijah Blue’, from the late Lois Woodhull of New York’s The Plantage Nursery, is still one of the best and most durable selections of blue fescue. Festuca (fess-tue' kah) Common name: Blue Fescue Family: Poaceae, Grass Height x width: 6-10" x 8" clump; gigantea and californica 3-6' x 2-3' Growth rate: moderate Foliage: very fine and thin, evergreen, varying degrees of blue with cultivar; some with thick leaves or green; forming tufts or clumps Flowers: terminal, slender panicles Hardiness: zones 4-8 (tolerate heat and humidty) Festuca ‘Elijah Blue’ was named after the nursery location on Elijah Lane. Sep 18, 2014 - Blue Fescue 'Elijah Blue' has been greeting visitors at the front border of the Garden Drama test garden for over 10 years. Dividing. 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