Festuca
at Digging Dog

Including Festuca amethystina 'Superba'

Festuca

Fescue

Originating from the Latin word for stalk or stem, the genus Festuca is comprised of approximately 300 cool season perennial species. The following native Californian selections highlight handsome, fine textured tufts, which appreciate a well drained site, annual early spring trimmings and a division every couple of years, while sulking in hot humid weather.

Festuca amethystina ‘Superba’    

A denizen of central Europe, this ultra fine textured grass is practically peerless among Festucas. Soft silver blue blades with rolled edges configure a well-groomed glaucous mound. Extending above evergreen clumping foliage, quantities of relaxed slender stems generate vivid heliotrope shades paired with amber-hued flower spikes for more than a month. ‘Superba’ can serve as a dynamic small-scale specimen sprinkled above a stone wall or throughout the rockery, where its stunning color always beckons.

Blooms mid-May to mid-July.

Size: 18"–2' high x 2'–2-1/2' wide; hardy to zone 4.

Festuca amethystina ‘Superba’ (G-0527)
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Festuca californica ‘Phil’s Silver’    

A standout for its stiff silvery blades, this robust, cool season grass originated from seed that Cal Flora Nursery owner, Phil Van Soelen, collected near California’s Sonoma coast.

Anchored by burgundy sheaves, glaucous gray-green leaves become more lustrous as the weather warms, but remain evergreen in milder climates. Unfurling in airy, yet showy abundance, the graceful greenish panicles mature to a cozy golden hue some 2 or 3 ft. above a fairly compact, dense basal tuft of handsome long-lived foliage.

Resplendent massed with shrubs such as Ceanothus, Cistus or Ribes, ‘Phil’s Silver’ prefers good drainage, minimal to moderate summer water, and obliges an array of situations, such as coastal hillsides, wind, and drought in cooler areas.

Blooms April–June.

Size: 3' high x 3' wide; hardy to zone 7.

Festuca californica ‘Phil’s Silver’ (G-0462)
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Festuca idahoensis ‘Stony Creek’    

Blue Bunchgrass

Not only beautifully blue, but hard-working to boot, this water wise perennial grass is a California native from Del Norte County. A thick, tidy hummock of very thin, chalk blue blades sends up slender, wandlike stems holding graceful, airy golden sprays.

Hallmarked by a composed appearance, ‘Stony Creek’ is most impressive and enduring in large drifts on banks or hillsides, where it aids erosion control, resists those pesky deer, doesn’t falter in full sun even inland, and prefers some afternoon shade. Zone 7/8.

Blooms April–June.

Size: 2'–2-1/2' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 8.

Festuca idahoensis ‘Stony Creek’ (g-0488)
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