Soft and Elegant Ornamental Grass: Stipa ramosissima

, , ,

I adore this native grass (Stipa ramosissima), it is a local Illawarra species and I have found it hard to source but whenever I find it somewhere I grab a few as I can find a home for them in no time!

I do apologise for the glut of photos in this post but I would love to see it used more often in gardens, it makes a great replacement to the exotic Miscanthus species that can easily get out of control here.

Stipa ramosissima grows to approximately 1.5 metre high x 1.5 metres wide and has an extremely soft weeping habit and lovely straw coloured seed heads, the leaves come up in almost bamboo like clumps of lime green.

It will grow well in a part shade to full shade position as it is found naturally in NSW Eucalypt forest in moist gullies. It will withstand dry periods and temporary inundation due to floods, however I have experimented with pruning it to the ground and it did not come back at all 🙁

Stipa ramosissima can be used as a tall vase-shaped feature plant or as a mass planting with darker foilaged species. I love the way the dark almost black trunks of the ironbarks are set off by its golden seed heads, I hope to see it used more often! Here is one last photo 😉

Oh and I also talked a little about it here.

Comments

One response to “Soft and Elegant Ornamental Grass: Stipa ramosissima”

  1. […] there are 3 clumps there of a highly attractive native grass Austrostipa ramosissima. See this site for many photos of what this lovely grass could look like if we rescue it from the Ehrharta http://malleedesign.com.au/soft-and-elegant-ornamental-grass-stipa-ramosissima/. […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related posts

Birdbaths designed for birds

Mallee Birdbaths are specifically designed to serve birds. The copper dishes are broad and shallow, allowing birds to land on the edge and walk into the water. The baths are modern, elegant and durable. They are locally made in the Illawarra (NSW, Australia) using materials that will weather well and last decades. For help on which dish to choose, go here.