Tripsacum dactyloides

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Price:  £6.50 –+ Add to Basket Brand:  The Plantsman's Preference Family:  Poaceae Main Season:  Summer Flower Colour:  Green Leaf Colour:  Green Foliage:  Deciduous Position:  Sun Soil Type:  Ordinary, medium loam Height:  1.2m to 1.8m (4' to 6') Peat Free?  Yes Hardiness Guide:  RHS H7 minimum at least -20C Pot Size:  1.4L Availability:      Approx. 10 in stock View our Pot Size guide:

Clumps of bright green, broad leaves on this hardy perennial American grass related to Maize. Fascinating spikes of chunky flowers on strong stems to 1.5m. Good, drained soil in sun.

Very rarely seen as an ornamental grass but definitely worth trying if you like something different.  I've grown this for over 20 years and found it to be reliably hardy but it could probably do with more rainfall than we get here in Norfolk, it grows but doesn't get that big.

The, almost glossy, wide leaves make an attractive arching clump on their own and the flowers just add to the interest with upright, sometimes branched spikes with relatively few individual florets.  Well behaved, it has never self-seeded and makes tight clumps.

From the Americas where it is known as Eastern Gamagrass.