Pennisetum (Fountain Grass)
at Digging Dog

Including Pennisetum orientale and Pennisetum alopecuroides

photo: aehack

Pennisetum

Fountain Grass

The soft inflorescences take their name from the Latin words penna and seta meaning feather-bristle. This lovely grass is a favorite, distinguished by arching, feathery bottlebrush flowers spilling over a cascading mound of foliage.

A warm season grower, Fountain Grass welcomes hot weather and is widely distributed in both tropical and temperate areas.

View a slideshow of plant images from this genus

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Cassian’  

Honoring German horticulturist Cassian Schmidt, this graceful midsized Kurt Bluemel selection sparks our interest through three seasons. Its compact fluid form sets the stage for fawn-colored bristlelike cylinders that softly linger just above elegant foliar blades. In a grand finale of arresting warmth, the autumnal leaves celebrate lavish gilded highlights and red hues, which definitely earns ‘Cassian’ a front row seat in our mixed border.

Blooms August–October.

Size: 3' high x 2-1/2'–3' wide; hardy to zone 6.

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Cassian’ (G-0487)
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Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’  

Dwarf Fountain Grass

Its compact habit and finely textured foliage make this one of the most popular Pennisetum cultivars. More darkly hued than most Pennisetum alopecuroides, the foliar mound is very upright and dome-shaped, playing host to the plump, slightly curved and creamy green flower heads that arch at least a foot aloft. Alighting on wiry slender stems held by fanlike sheaves, the fuzzy inflorescences bloom earlier than the species.

To heighten the garden drama, let ‘Hameln’ anchor a riot of Asters and Nepetas.

Blooms late July – October.

Size: 2'–2-1/2' high x 2-1/2' wide; hardy to zone 6.

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’ (G-0465)
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Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Moudry’  

Black Fountain Grass

Flowing with deep green, fairly wide, glossy foliage, ‘Moudry’ forms a burnished, tidy-looking basal mound. The showy cylindrical spikes resemble large dense foxtails, as they arise on stiff stalks just above lush deciduous leaves, which color to yellow and orange come autumn.

Unparalleled among other ornamental grasses, the phenomenal fuzzy blooms impart dark purple-black shades, and make excellent cut flowers, fresh or dried. Introduced by the National Arboretum from a batch of Japanese seeds, fall blooming Black Fountain Grass is indispensable for its late season appeal in the mixed border.

Blooms September–November.

Size: 2' high x 2'–2-1/2' wide; hardy to zone 6.

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Moudry’ (G-0453)
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Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Piglet’  

If you are looking for a perfectly sized Pennisetum that’s loaded with fluffy blooms and doesn’t require much care, this new cultivar may be your answer. Though ‘Piglet’ is small statured, about half the size of Pennisetum ‘Hameln’, it’s certainly not the runt of the litter, growing taller and more substantial than ‘Little Bunny’.

Easy to tuck into a tight, well drained space amid Asters and Astrantia ‘Buckland’, it’s long lived, fine textured green foliage supports a light-as-air profusion of tawny-colored cylindrical blooms. Zone 5/6. (pp#19,074)

Blooms August – October.

Size: 18" high x 18"–2' wide; hardy to zone 6.

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Piglet’ (G-0516)
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Pennisetum ‘Fairy Tails’  

Described by a definitive architectural silhouette, this possible P. incomptum seedling sprung up in the Pomona Nursery of noted grass enthusiast, John Greenlee. Erect, light pink tapering ‘tails’ on upright stems attain splendid deep wheat colors when mature, appearing somewhat denser and not as airy as other Pennisetum species.

The attractive semievergreen clump of fine textured gray-green blades withstands both heat and drought and imparts strong vertical contrast to Stipa gigantea’s more relaxed habit and a low growing drift of Sesleria ‘John Greenlee’. Zone 7/8. (PPAF)

Blooms June – October.

Size: 3'–5' high x 2'–3' wide; hardy to zone 8.

Pennisetum ‘Fairy Tails’ (G-0523)
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Pennisetum massaicum ‘Red Buttons’  

Red Button Fountain Grass

The species inhabits the wide open savannas of Africa, and this distinctive red flowered cultivar will flourish in your garden, given a well drained sunny locale. Waving bushy, warm-colored inflorescences that eventually lighten to a creamy tan, the delicate slender stems rise high above graceful flowing mounds of broad maroon-tinted green blades. Long blooming ‘Red Buttons’ can be featured as a stellar addition to floral arrangements, as a container subject or a mixed border specimen, enduring hot dry conditions, but not terribly cold winters.

Blooms July – September.

Size: 2'–3' high x 2'–3' wide; hardy to zone 7.

Pennisetum massaicum ‘Red Buttons’ (G-0510)
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Pennisetum orientale  

Orient Fountain Grass

A dense, rounded clump of narrow arching leaves explodes into long blooming, fuzzy, copper-pink flower spikes, exquisite in large drifts or contrasted with broad-leafed perennials, like Helenium ‘Zimbelstern’. Backlight this grass and enjoy a fountain of color and youth.

Blooms June–October.

Size: 12"–2' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 6.

Pennisetum orientale (G-0023)
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Pennisetum orientale ‘Tall Tails’  

Giant Fountain Grass

Vigorous and heat-loving, and much larger than the species, this bushy Pakistani cultivar has a 3 to 4 ft. vaselike clump of green foliage, with wonderfully whitish “tails” touched by a muted pink ascending a full foot higher. Giant Fountain Grass makes a compelling ingredient in the mixed border, especially with tall Achilleas and Angelica gigas nearby.

Blooms June–October.

Size: 5-1/2' high x 3' wide; hardy to zone 6.

Pennisetum orientale ‘Tall Tails’ (G-0093)
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Pennisetum spathiolatum  

Slender Veldt Grass

A denizen of South Africa, this drought tolerant evergreen grass has low growing, narrow dark green blades that provide a verdant contrast to its tawny colored tapers. The dense, abundantly produced inflorescences hover on jointed nearly invisible stems, some 2 to 3 ft. tall, while fashioning a delightful see-through veil.

Especially mesmerizing when grouped in a dry creek bed, a meadow or a water wise garden, the Slender Veldt Grass asks only for a well drained abode. Zone 6/7.

Blooms June – October.

Size: 3'–4-1/2' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 7.

Pennisetum spathiolatum (G-0511)
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