Texture, Color & Movement Ornamental Grasses Provide It All
Monrovia Nursery Company
Ornamental grasses are a must-have in the landscape, providing easy-to-grow plants that offer year-round interest. Grasses add unique textures and enchanting movement with even just the slightest breeze. They also provide wildlife-friendly habitat, and once established, are often drought-tolerant.
“Whether gardeners are looking to create a modern meadow design – a top trend we’re watching for 2025 – or just want to add unique visual interest to the garden, we have so many stunning grasses to offer,” said Katie Tamony, chief marketing officer and trend spotter at Monrovia. “Ornamental grasses provide captivating texture and color all while being a low maintenance choice.”
Add color and texture to your garden.
Smoke Signal Little Bluestem is a strong upright grass with a fabulous show of colors, with blue-green foliage that takes on scarlet tones in late summer, deepening to purple through the fall. Tiny tan seed heads develop in late fall, layering in even more interest. Recommended for Zones 3-9.
Blonde Ambition Blue Grama Grass is a selection of the North American native species. This rugged, cold hardy grass features blue-green foliage and striking, flag-like, golden summer flowers on stiff, weather resistant stems plus long-lasting blonde seed heads that remain through winter. Recommended for Zones 4-9.
ColorGrass® Live Wire Fiber Optic Grass is a grass-like plant featuring soft green leaves, which resemble fiber optic strands, accented by small buff-colored flower spikes at the tips. The leaves grow upright when young and drape as they mature, making an excellent choice for adding unique texture to mixed container plantings. Recommended for Zones 8-10.
Create privacy and let these interesting plants work for you.
Hot Rod Switch Grass is drought and salt tolerant, with an excellent, compact vertical form. Blue-green foliage during the growing season turns a deep burgundy in summer. Airy purple flower panicles produce showy seed heads that provide winter interest along with a haven for wintering songbirds. Recommended for Zones 4-9.
Prairie Dog Switch Grass features sturdy stems that hold up in snow, providing winter interest and shelter for birds. Airy, rosy summer blooms are held above cool blue foliage, softening the look, and adding engaging texture. Recommended for Zones 4-9.
Soften pathways and hardscapes
Black Mondo Grass offers a dramatic option and stunning contrast for your garden. This dense, purple-black foliage can serve as eye-popping edging, or you can tuck it into mixed containers. Black Mondo Grass also produces dark lavender flowers in summer that are followed by purple berries in fall. Recommended for Zones 5-10.
ColorGrass® Amazon Mist Sedge is another new addition for 2025. This arching, finely textured sedge with good heat tolerance forms dense clusters of bright green foliage with twisting tips and silvery undersides, perfect for borders where it will move with the breeze. Recommended for Zones 5-10.
By Natalie Carmolli for Proven Winners® ColorChoice®
Fall is the perfect time to plant many woody perennials. Click here for interesting article that presents six outstanding shrubs that not only thrive when planted in the fall but also bring effortless color and interest to your garden next spring.
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