Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster'

Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster': Ramrod-Straight Plumes Ripening to Gold

Some grasses have kids everywhere. This one doesn't self-seed, so no surprise relatives show up in your lawn. Tall plumes go from pinkish-bronze to gold and stay standing right through winter. CHILD-FREE AND THRIVING.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'
• Common Name: Feather Reed Grass
• Height: 120–180 cm (4–6 ft) in flower; foliage about 60–90 cm (2–3 ft)
• Spread: 60–70 cm (2–2.3 ft)
• Flowers: Narrow, upright plumes that open pinkish-bronze and age to golden tan
• Bloom Time: Early to late summer (June to August), with plumes standing into winter
• Foliage: Glossy deep green, upright, turning golden tan in late fall
• Features: Tolerates clay, sterile (does not self-seed)

Where to Plant: Plant it in rows for a living screen, in groups for rhythm along a long border, or as a single exclamation point among rounded perennials. It handles heavy clay and the stop-start moisture of Canadian summers, and it stands tall with snow caught in the plumes.

Companion Plants: Echinops ritro adds round blue globes from July to September, a bold shape beside the tall, straight grass. Hemerocallis Happy Ever Appster™ 'Big Time Happy' fills the front with yellow daylilies from June to September. Chelone glabra brings white turtlehead flowers in August and September. All of them grow well in sun to part sun.

Plant Care: Give it full sun for the most upright growth. It will take part sun, but too much shade can make it flop. Average to moist, well-drained soil is ideal, though it adapts to clay. Water through the first season, then only in long dry spells. Leave the plumes standing for winter. In late winter or very early spring, cut the whole clump down to about 15 cm (6 in) before new growth starts. It's a cool-season grass, so it gets going early. Divide in spring or fall if the centre thins out.

History: 'Karl Foerster' is a natural hybrid of Calamagrostis epigejos and Calamagrostis arundinacea, introduced by German nurseryman Karl Foerster around 1950 and brought to North America from Denmark in 1964. In 2001 it became the first ornamental grass named Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association.

Final Thoughts: Clay soil, dry spells, curious deer: it handles all three. Plant a row along the fence and SKIP THE CONTRACTOR.